PopCap and Google set for Develop Conference

Industry professionals from the likes of Google and PopCap will be heading down to Brighton this summer to make key lectures on the first day of the Develop Conference.

Now in its fifth year, the annual Develop Conference has grown into a three-day event, the first of which is entirely dedicated to the emerging social, online and mobile markets.

Known as Develop Evolve, the opening-day event will see keynote speakers from the likes of Unity, Instant Action, SCEE, Hand Circus and NDreams. Today organisers have added two new names to the list – Google and PopCap.

Industry professionals from PopCap will come to Brighton July 13 to discuss the mass-market potential of casual games on mobile devices. Meanwhile, Google’s Chris Pruett will be in attendance to discuss the Android platform.

“Evolve is aimed at a variety of people – producers tasked with integrating connected features into their games, designers exploring user-generated content and Facebook, or anyone interested in exploiting the expanding crossover of TV, social networking, mobile devices and today’s connected games consoles,” said event director Andy Lane.

The comprehensive list of Evolve speakers can be found below.

The following Wednesday will see the Develop Conference adopt a more traditional approach, covering some of the biggest issues facing the games industry today and some of the most promising titles on the radar.

Doublefine president Tim Schafer will be speaking at the conference, while BioWare founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are set for an illuminating keynote discussion. Rare is also headlining the event, with a keynote address on project Natal.

EVOLVE PROGRAMME 2010

Opening Keynote: Traditional Games Breaking Into Social Networks: A View From The Frontline
Louis Castle, Instant Action

Closing Keynote: Gamification: How Games Are Everywhere
David Helgason, Unity Technologies

Hats, Loops And Levers: Experiences Of A Small Studio
Simon Oliver, Hand Circus

An Android Game Post-Mortem
Chris Pruett, Google

The iPhone Developers’ Conference Call
Chris James, Pocket Gamer; Alan Yu, ngmoco; Matthew Higgins, Wonderland

An Explorer’s Guide To Publishing On Facebook And Other Digital Platforms
Patrick O’Luanaigh, nDreams

A Casual Game In Every Pocket
Dave Bishop, PopCap

5 Things Big Publishers Don’t Understand About Small Games
Sean Murphy, Hello Games

Making Free Apps For Fun And Profit: Adventures In iPhone Game Development For A Triple-A Start-up
Matthew Higgins, Wonderland

Brand New: Recreating Call Of Duty Zombies On iPhone
Russell Clarke, ideaworks 3d

Digital Distribution – The Magic Bullet Or Same As It Ever Was?
Panellists tbc

Technical Perspectives On The Evolution of SingStar From Game To Service On PlayStation 3
Richard Bates, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

Forget Dragon’s Den: What Venture Capital Really Means For You
Paul Flanagan, Ariadne Capital, Nic Brisbourne, DFJ Esprit LLP, Sean Seton-Rogers, PROfounders Capital, Carlos Espinal, Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures

Taking Icy Tower to Facebook
Johan Peitz, Muskedunder Interactive

Yesterday’s Games Designers – Tomorrow’s Social Tech Innovators
Gabe Zichermann, beamME

How 100 Users Turned Into 100 million – A Browser Game Success Story
Nils Holger Henning, Bigpoint GmbH

Why Mobile Games Will Eventually Outperform Console Gaming: An Overview of Actual Smartphone Gaming And What’s Next
Michael Schade, Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH

Games As A Service: Do You Really Know What It Means?
Thomas Bidaux, ICO Partners