The inaugural W.A.S.D games show is kicking off at London's Tobacco Dock this week. You're getting many games to try from publishers like Sega, Devolver Digital, Team17, and heaps more. There are also oodles of insightful talks to attend, and this orange site is hosting a good few of them.
We're kicking things off on Saturday, April 7, with a session on getting streamers to play and market developer's games with insight from Fourth Floor's Luke Ashworth, Devolver's Clara Sia, Team17's Rebecca Larkin, and Two Angry Gamers' Tommy and Adam. Running such a chat takes someone with influencer know-how, so we've tapped our sister site The Loadout to run the rule over this one. We've also got other panels on topics like sustainability and the future of games media.
Friday and Saturday are equally packed with constructive chats. You've got two panels on the trends of nostalgia and relaxation in games featuring Two Point Studios, Team17, and Ustwo developers. We're also talking to YouTuber Alastair' Ali-A' Aiken about his career, how content creators can make a name for themselves, and a new special project supported by YouTube.
Here’s the full schedule:
Thursday April 7
11am – How to get streamers to play and market your game (presented by The Loadout)
Luke Ashworth (Fourth Floor), Clara Sia (Devolver Digital), Rebecca Larkin (Team17), and Tommy and Adam from Two Angry Gamers speak with our sister site, The Loadout, about tips and tricks in influencer marketing.
12pm – BAFTA panel: a chat with some of this year’s nominees
Jim and Kosmos from ZA/UM (Disco Elysium: The Final Cut), Daniel Mullins (Inscryption), and Oliver Granlund from Hazelight (It Takes Two) join us to discuss their BAFTA-nominated games.
1pm – W.A.S.D Curios: PCGamesN’s highlights
W.A.S.D’s Curios collection is a celebration of the most unusual, innovative ideas in indie gaming. Join Ewoud van der Werf (SCHiM), Yambe Tam (7100AD), and Louis Torres Tailfer (Zellige) for a chat about their work, which you can play at the show.
2pm – Fights in Tight Spaces: a fireside chat with James Parker
James Parker, director of Ground Shatter, makers of the BAFTA-nominated indie breakout Fights in Tight Spaces, discusses the game’s development.
3pm – Sustainability: can the game industry keep growing without destroying the planet?
A panel with Jess Rutland and Tomas Rawlings of Auroch Digital.
4pm – The future of games media with GAMINGbible
Imogen Donovan and Dean Abdou discuss the importance of social platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok in GAMINGbible’s future-focused approach to gaming coverage.
5pm – Diva presents Playable Futures: predicting the future of play
Join John Clark (CEO, Curve Digital), Agostino Simoetta (Chief Games Officer, Thunderful) and Gina Jackson OBE as they look to the future of the game industry.
Friday April 8
11am – Two Point Studios: a journey
Two Point Studios’ co-founders Gary Carr, Mark Webley, and Ben Hymers discuss their decades-long careers and share some pearls of wisdom.
12pm – Wargamer presents: from tabletop to PC and back
Our tabletop-focused sister site, Wargamer, discusses digital adaptations of tabletop IP and vice versa with Chris Birch (Modiphius) and Adam Bradford (Demiplane).
1pm – Trends in game development: nostalgia
As the millennial generation comes to dominate the workforce, Gary Carr (Two Point Studios), Ashley Day (Team17), and Charles Cecil (Revolution) discuss the influence of nostalgia on the game industry and pop culture.
2pm – Trends in game development: relaxation
Tobias Graff (Mooneye), Chris Cox (ustwo), and Jess Rutland (Auroch Digital), makers of some of the most soothing games out there, discuss their work and gaming’s unique ability to meet our need to unwind.
3pm – Videogame PR in the post-pandemic age
Leading PRs from across the UK game industry discuss the new rules in getting your game talked about following the pandemic’s impact on how we work, meet, and communicate.
4pm – How to get into games journalism
Videogame journalists from PCGamesN, official media partner to W.A.S.D, discuss their routes into the industry and how aspiring games journalists can do the same.
5pm – Safe spaces in the physical age: how communities are staying safe moving from digital to physical events
Kat Welsford (Games Industry Gathering and Save Point Industry Gathering), Jade Leamcharaskul (POC in Play, Game Dev London), and Tom Bradstreet (Into Games) join Ahmed El-Badawi (Game Dev London) to discuss the post-pandemic future of physical events.
Saturday April 9
11am – Ali-A: fireside chat
A chat with the iconic influencer about his career, how content creators can make a name for themselves, and a reveal of a special new project supported by YouTube.
12pm – The four-day week and post-pandemic work method
Joe Brammer of Bulkhead Studios, which has been trialling a four-day work week, and Adam Boyne of BetaJester discuss the importance of flexible working methods both in general and in the context of the pandemic.
2pm – From indie to triple-A: growing a studio from six to 100 people
A talk by Joe Brammer, CEO of Bulkhead, makers of Battalion 1944.
3pm – How to succeed on Steam (and do you still need to?)
Mike Rose (No More Robots), Paul Nadin (Future Friends Games), and Cassia Curran (Curran Games) discuss the latest tricks to navigate PC gaming’s biggest platform and its prominence in the current landscape of online stores.
4pm – You’ve got a great game idea; what next?
Andres Martin (Auroch Digital), Brandon Cole (Into Games), and Yasin Ali (Orthors) take aspiring developers from concept to reality: here’s how to make a success from your first idea and break into the game industry.
5pm – Mike Bithell: fireside chat
A talk with the BAFTA-winning developer of Thomas Was Alone and Volume.
W.A.S.D runs from April 7-9, 2022 at the Wapping venue. Follow the event on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to catch all the latest announcements on the run up to the show.
