Google and MySpace gurus to speak at Develop Conference

Staff from internet supremos Google and Myspace have joined the line-up of speakers for the Evolve stream of the Develop Conference.

Addressing the emerging new technologies and platforms – including things like mobile, iPhone and Xbox Live Arcade – and the growing casual and social gaming space. Evolve takes place during the first day of the conference, Tuesday July 14th, and will comprise two keynotes and 18 sessions. It’ll then continue on as a stream within the main conference on Wednesday July 15th.

The Tuesday programme is as follows:

KEYNOTE: Resetting the Game
David Perry, Creative Director of Acclaim Games

KEYNOTE: The Long Tail and Games: How digital distribution changes everything. Maybe.
David Edery, Independent Consultant

MOBILE KEYNOTE: Moving Games to a New Beat: The Development of Nokia’s Dance Fabulous
Mark Ollila, Nokia

Infectious: How Viral Games Capture an Audience of Millions
Jeff Coghlan, Matmi

A Game is a Game is a Game
Dave Thomas, Denki

Whose quiz is it, anyway?: Bringing user-generated content to the Buzz! franchise
Dan Croucher and Caspar Field, Relentless Software

Panel: Is Digital Distribution Truly the Saviour of the PC Game?
Dorian Bloch, Chart Track/GfK

How Today’s Social Networks Will Change How You Make, Play and Sell Games Tomorrow
Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish

Panel: The Fight for Playtime: What Do Social Networking Sites Have to Offer the Games Industry?
Chair: Tom Armitage; Limvirak Chea, Google; Chris Thorpe, MySpace

Case Study: A Browser-Based MMO on Every Desktop
Jim McNiven, Kerb

10 Things Nobody Tells You About Digital Distribution and Self-publishing That You Must Understand to Succeed
Martyn Brown, Team 17

20 Great Innovations in Casual, Social and Mobile Games That You Should Steal
Stuart Dredge, Pocket Gamer

Browser Based Games: The Past, the Present, the Future
Gustaf Stechmann, Splitscreen Studios

Panel: Crossing Over in a World Gone Casual
Chair: Matt Spall, Playora; Nils-Holger Henning, Bigpoint

Panel: Opportunities and Hurdles for Mobile Gaming
Chair: Tim Green, Mobile Entertainment; Mark Fletcher, Nokia

Panel: After the iPhone Honeymoon: Where Next for Apple’s Mobile
Chair: Mathew Kumar, Freelance Journalist; Alan Yu, ngmoco; Michael Schade, Fishlabs; James Brooksby, doublesix; Chris Byatte, Chillingo

The European Free to Play Market
Thomas Bidaux, Ico Partnership

Practical Applications of Online Convergence
Paul Croft, Mediatonic

Taking Your Game to iPhone and Android, Without Killing Your Team
Chris White, Glu

“We have created Evolve to recognise and reflect the huge changes happening in games development, which has led to an influx of new platforms and emerging markets creating exciting new business opportunities but also throwing up a new set of challenges for games developers,” said Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events.

“You only have to look at the quality and diversity of our speakers to see how the Evolve programme will help developers to make the most of the potential business opportunities emerging from growth of these new technologies and markets, as well as guide them through the thorny issues related to developing in these areas.”

The Develop Conference takes place from Tuesday 14th to 16th of July. Early-bird discounts for Evolve passes are available until June 10th – for more information, check out the official website.