F2P Summit: An overview

For three years now the F2P Summit has brought together both industry veterans and games business newcomers in East London; currently seen as a hub for not just the capital’s games industry, but its tech and media output too.

The conference, of course, tackles the opportunities and concerns around free-to-play business models, and with just 20 attendee places remaining for this coming Thursday’s return of the F2P Summit, it is looking to sell out, as did both previous iterations of the event.

Taking to the stage at the F2P Summit to discuss ideas around F2P game design, monetisation and marketing will be representatives from Splash Damage, 22Cans, Chartboost, Papaya Mobile, InnoGames, Everyplay, 4T2 Multimedia, Bossa Studios, PlayHaven, Future Games of London, Pocketgamer.biz and Develop.

The day will kick off with Develop’s own editor Will Freeman interviewing industry luminary and 22 Cans boss Peter Molyneux live on stage. Peter’s session, entitled ‘Learnings from Curiosity to Godus’, will deliver insight into bringing traditional experience into the F2P space, look at what Molyneux believes the future of the business model will be, and offer a live demo of Godus to the audience.

Another choice session is expected from Splash Damage’s Paul Wedgewood, who will consider the future relationship between triple-A and free-to-play. Wedgewood is expected to put forward the case that studios working on high-budget triple-A games can still employ ethical gameplay telemetry, or what is described as ‘white-hat analytics’, to gain significant advantages; namely lowering cost and increasing accessibility without sacrificing triple-A quality.

“We all know that great triple-A games require huge budgets and years of development time to mature,” says Wedgewood of his planned session. “Blockbuster production values seem incompatible with free to play. Those of us that serve both gaming markets are feeling pretty cocky, but a countdown has started. As increasing investment chases finite consumer attention, studios will only succeed when they offer blockbuster-quality games that are free.”

Other highlights include Chartboost’s Pepe Agell considering how mobile magnetisation is changing, Chris Hanage of PapayaMobile on the secrets of free-to-play success and Oscar Clark of every play on the fine art of using rhythm and uncertainty in F2P game design. Meanwhile Pocketgamer.biz’s will deliver a talk titled ‘Morality in a Big Data, Frictionless Payment, Free-to-Play Mobile Gaming World’.

The day will end with a Develop-chaired panel session featuring Hanage, Ian Harper from Future Games of London, Imre Jele of Bossa Studios and PlayHaven’s Ville Heijari.

The F2P Summit returns to Rich Mix in Shoreditch, London on April 18th for more learning and networking.

The F2P Summit is a unique event that explores all aspects of F2P and freemium from the developer’s point of view, offers practical advice and an opportunity to hear from studios who have built successful businesses on this model.

This event is aimed at independent developers, publishers, IP and media owners plus brand marketers.

The F2P Summit will take place on April 18th at the Rich Mix in Shoreditch, London.

For more information and to secure one of the last remaining places visit the official website.