Subotron Live Pitch of Austrian Games #8: Game Prototypes Event

To get feedback on a game in development, you would usually ask your (favourable) friends or beta testers rather than impartial industry keyplayers who can make a firm but fair assessment, put their finger on inaccuracies and errors so as to point game developers in the right direction. That?s exactly why SUBOTRON and Wirtschaftskammer Wien founded the series ?Live Pitch of Austrian Games?.

Nomination with an ensuing Pitching Workshop

Out of a call, the jurors have picked max. five games whose developers were provided with a Pitching Workshop by the sponsor Wirtschaftskammer Wien. The workshop held by London based expert Phil Elliott of Square Enix Collective served not only as a preparation for this night, but also as an ideal communication training for the current and future games projects.

Agenda

Each representative of the nominated games is given ten minutes to convince the three jurors of their project who give immediate feedback. Not only the presentation is being evaluated, but also the game itself. Was the teaser significant? Is the game play conclusive and the target group identified? What is the prospect on the aimed at market? Are the conceptions regarding financing models, marketing strategies and sales promising?
Would the developer be able to tease an AAA publisher in the elevator of a conference hotel so he decides to arrange an appointment? Does the game have a USP that makes investors and business angels prick up their ears?

Presenter: Robert Glashüttner (ORF/FM4)

The finalists in alphabetical order:

?A Wizard?s Cloak?
?Behind the Wallpaper?
?Crave?
?Project Trigh? (Working Title)

Prizes

Apart from the previously taken Pitching Workshop, the winner not only benefits from the straight and blunt professional evaluation, but also has a long-term added value:

The sponsor Wirtschaftskammer Wien funds the winning project, just as in previous years, with a prize money of

– 2500.-

On top of that, the Wirtschaftskammer Wien will provide the winners with a coaching by the international jurors the morning after the event. They will clarify questions concerning product development, game design, business models, future markets, financing models as well as marketing and sales in an extensive manner within a confidential setting.

Jury

Hannes Seifert
Studio Head Io-Interactive, DK

Hannes?s career started in 1987 with his first Commodore 64 game. 1993 he co-founded Rockstar Vienna originally as neo Software, where he served as managing director for production and as executive producer for 14 years. End of 2006 he co-founded Deep Silver Vienna which he left 2010 to join Square Enix at Io-Interactive where he continues his work as studio head and executive producer. Hannes is currently working on ?Hitman? for PS4, XB1 and PCs. His previous games include hits such as ?Hitman: Absolution?, ?Dead Island?, the ?Max Payne? and ?GTA? series and ?Die Völker?. In his 30 years in the industry he worked on dozens of games on platforms ranging from C64 to MMOs, Wii, Xbox One and PS4. @hannesseifert

Susan Cummings
Executive Producer and Founder Tiny Rebel Games, UK

Susan Cummings, Executive Producer and Founder of Tiny Rebel Games, has over 20 years of game industry publishing and development experience, adept in all facets of bringing a game to market on a diverse range of titles from big budget console franchises to smaller mobile free to play games. She was one of the key creators of 2K Games and 2K Sports and has been integral to the creation of some of the most successful console franchises of the last decade including ?Bioshock?, ?Borderlands?, ?X-Com?, and the ?Grand Theft Auto? series. She moved into mobile in 2013 forming Tiny Rebel Games as a micro publisher with her husband and long time collaborator Lee Cummings. Together they designed and published ?Doctor Who: Legacy? for iOS and Android, played by over 2.5 million Doctor Who fans to date. Tiny Rebel is also overseeing development of ?FlatOut 4? for consoles and PC and has two new games in early production.

Alexander Hofmann
Director of the Master Degree Program Game Engineering and Simulation Technology, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien in Vienna

In 2004, Alexander Hofmann founded a development group with members from established game development companies in Austria and Germany as well as researchers. The aim was to develop a master degree program, focusing on game engineering with the focus on game programming to help the companies to grow better with the help of well educated, new employees. The master degree called ?Game Engineering and Simulation Technology? started in 2008 and Alexander got the position of the director of this program. From there on he increased his network within Europe and overseas. He also teaches in several lectures, such as Machine Learning or Advanced Topics Software Engineering and coaches students for their bachelor or master theses.