TIM SCHAFER joins the line-up at GAMELAB Live

The list of speakers for Gamelab Barcelona 2020 Live just got longer, with big names from the gaming industry Tim Schafer, Debbie Bestwick, Nicolaj Nyholm and Kiki Wolfkill now announced. They’ll be joining other confirmed speakers, including Mike Pondsmith, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Shawn Layden, Minh Le and many more. It’s a five-star line-up for this world-leading conference aimed at professionals from the gaming and digital entertainment industries and millions of fans from all over the globe, who’ll be able to watch the event online this year.

One of the latest names to be announced for the 16^th edition of Gamelab is the founder and director of the studio Double Fine Productions (Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest), Tim Schafer. Not only is he a brilliant storyteller, his game development company is part of Xbox Games Studios and he’s behind the Kickstarter project Double Fine Adventure, which beat all the records and served as inspiration for a new era of indie titles made possible by crowdfunding. Schafer worked at LucasArts for more than a decade, as well as being one of the key figures in the ‘golden age’ of graphic adventures, working on titles such as Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango.

Debbie Bestwick will also be participating in the event. Hailing from the UK, Bestwick is one of the industry’s leaders, with more than 30 years’ experience under her belt. She’s the co-founder and CEO of Team17, a company valued at up to 230 million pounds sterling, and has developed popular video games such as Worms. Her keen business sense has won her numerous prizes, including the Golden Joystick for her “exceptional contribution to the video games industry in the United Kingdom”, which she received just one year after being awarded an MBE.

Another prestigious guest at this year’s Gamelab is Nicolaj Nyholm. Nicolaj is an investor and consultant for top esports games and leagues. He’s also the CEO of RFRSH Entertainment, the company that made Blast Pro Series, which is known as the ‘Champions League’ of esports. The tournament, which brings together thousands of people and gives out up to 250,000 dollars in prizes, is just one of his success stories so far. Nyholm also created Imity (a social network) and Polar Rose (a facial recognition company), which were sold in 2008 and 2010 to Vodafone and Apple respectively.

Joining these three figureheads of the sector at Gamelab Live from 23 to 25 June is one of the main brains behind the Halo universe: Kiki Wolfkill. The executive producer and head of transmedia at the 343 Industries studio has played an active role in numerous projects from the franchise, including Halo 4, Halo: Nightfall, Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Channel.

Other confirmed speakers include prominent figures Nigel Lowrie (Devolver Digital), Alex Russman (Head of Developer Partnerships at Enjin), Raúl Rubio (Tequila Works), Eduardo Aparicio (Humble Games) and specialist journalists Chris Morris and Brian Crecente.

A MARKET FOR INVESTORS, PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS

On the business side of the event, this edition of Gamelab will feature a virtual market for video games and digital entertainment. Spanish and Latin American studios will be able to present their completed and ongoing projects online to investors, producers and distributors. The conference has created a channel where projects at all different stages in the production process will come together, offering opportunities for networking and doing business. This online gathering place for accredited representatives from different parts of the industry will promote the investment, funding and distribution of new projects.

You can register for the international conference now on the website for the event. The main talks are free and open to all.