Wout van Halderen unpacks the marketing strategy behind Balatro, a roguelike deckbuilder with unconventional visuals that presented significant challenges in traditional marketing channels. He details how the team shifted focus toward streamability and replayability to drive player engagement and interest. Drawing on lessons from The Case of the Golden Idol, this session highlights the importance of demos, influencer partnerships, and community-driven campaigns in navigating these obstacles.

Economic impact, global competitiveness, and the policy foundation for growth

At Epic, we like to disrupt. We believe in giving developers-and gamers- choice. From our developer-first programs and tireless dedication to build thriving ecosystems, we’re excited to share the current state of Epic Games Store, and what’s coming! Learn the latest on how Epic Games Store PC and mobile can be a part of your business’ growth.

Congratulations! You’re making a cool game. A common step for developers is to immediately look for a publisher, but is it really the best option? What if you can’t sign a deal? Either way, doing your own marketing is never something you should completely write off. Using lessons learned from their indie game fund Outersloth plus lived experiences, come dive into what doing your own marketing will likely entail. This is less of a “how to do” talk, and more a “here’s how to set everything else so you CAN do it”. Whether it’s budgeting, time, or just mental load, you’ll learn what goes into the hard work of marketing a game on your own.

As games grow in size, scope, and complexity, external development has shifted from a cost-saving measure to providing both strategic and creative advantages. External development leadership from Sony, Wizards of the Coast, Warner Bros Games & Game Caviar explore how co-development and outsourcing are shaping pipelines, accelerating delivery, and enabling creative ambition. This session unpacks the challenges of managing global vendor ecosystems, how partnerships and co-development are being redefined, and what infrastructure the industry could benefit from, to make external production predictable, scalable, and sustainable.

Helldivers 2 was a breakout success – but behind every chart-topping launch is a studio adapting in real time to the weight of expectations.
In this talk, Linda Tiger breaks down the real cost of glory: the pressure on leadership, the strain on production systems, the risks of rapid scaling, and the quiet threat of culture drift.
Packed with reflections and hard-won lessons, this session takes a look at how Arrowhead has been evolving since launch to protect their people, their principles, and their sanity – all while keeping up their relentless fight for managed democracy.

Funselektor has spent 11 years building stylized vehicle games and the community around them. That foundation helped their latest upcoming off-road vehicle game over the hill reach 200,000 Steam wishlists in just one month after its announcement. In this talk, Founder & Creative Director Dune Casu shares how long-term trust, clear vision, and the right marketing created the momentum for a game with the potential to become their biggest yet.

This panel will explore the current pathways to success for indie games in today’s crowded market. From competitive analysis and determining market signal, to discoverability hacks and marketing tips. We’ll also dive into the greenlight process, and what publishers look for when determining a game’s potential for commercial success.

After speaking with over a hundred studio heads across North America, Europe, and emerging markets, Adam Boyes shares a hard-hitting checklist for studios facing an industry in flux. With layoffs, publisher consolidation, and changing player habits reshaping the landscape, this talk cuts through the noise with 10 pragmatic, immediately actionable steps to strengthen your studio’s future.
From funding and partnerships to leadership culture and product strategy, Adam blends real-world lessons from scaling Iron Galaxy, building PlayStation’s third-party empire, and now advising studios globally through Vivrato. Attendees will walk away with a clear framework to stabilize operations today while positioning their studios for tomorrow’s opportunities.

Whether you’re launching your first commercial game or tenth, influencer marketing is a strong consideration for your marketing strategy. But the content creator landscape is ever-shifting and many are still operating under old rules and trends. Others chase the same path heavily resourced studios or the 0.01% of massive commercial successes take. We’ll discuss some common pitfalls to avoid and how to adapt creator marketing strategies to today’s expectations.