“Digital Dragons is a great opportunity to develop professional competence, because the thematic range of lectures is impressive and they are be delivered by experts from the best game studios. Another equally important aspect of participation in the conference is networking in its broadest sense – both the one practiced on one’s own, as our guests can arrange business meetings themselves through the conference app, and the kind that happens at events prepared by us,” says Anna Krampus-Sepielak, head of Digital Dragons
The first of these events starts the day before the conference. All attendees are invited to an Early Badge Pickup Party prepared by Creepy Jar at the Old Depot, and VIP pass holders are also invited to an exclusive dinner at the Wieliczka Salt Mine along with a tour.
During the conference itself, the organizers will grant guests access to a special Business Networking Zone – a space where they will be able to hold scheduled discussions. The first day will conclude with the Digital Dragons Awards Gala and the Digital Dragons Party immediately following. The party will take place at Forty Kleparz – a club located in a preserved fragment of 19th century fortifications of the Krakow Fortress.
The second day will begin with VIP Pass holders enjoying breakfast in the picturesque surroundings of the Wawel Royal Castle – once again a castle-like, but even more traditional setting. At the same time, the ICE Congress Center will host the second of the networking breakfasts dedicated to all the women present at Digital Dragons.
“We want to emphasize the growing role of women in gamedev and business in general. Statistics show that they already account for about 25% of all people working in Polish game studios. During the breakfast we will talk about how we find ourselves in the industry and what we can do to find ourselves even better,” says Anna Krampus-Sepielak, head of Digital Dragons.
Day two – and with it the entire conference – will conclude with the Indie Showcase Gala, during which we will award the best independent games shown at Digital Dragons 2023. Immediately afterwill come the time for summaries and farewells during the Beer Mingle organized by Remedy.
Throughout the conference, guests will be able to enjoy Rafal Szrajber’s in-game photography exhibition PHOTOmodeBOOK – an innovative, transdisciplinary art project on the borderline between gaming and traditional photography. Details on all events are available on the Digital Dragons website.
Dragons at the Arena
On the second day, indie game developers will get their five minutes to pitch and present their projects to the media, as well as potential publishers and investors from all around the world.
Digital Dragons Arena is a marketplace: a space for young game development studios seeking business partners, which doubles as an opportunity for representatives of VC funds, business angels, publishers and media to meet intriguing teams with large potential.
This year’s conference will feature the second edition of Arena which received 111 entries from all over the world – from the US and Chile through Europe and the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan and Indonesia. This is a significant quantitative progression compared to last year, but the organizers emphasize above all the qualitative leap in the submitted games.
“DD Arena is a perfect place for studios to present their projects and teams to potential business partners and the media. But it’s not just “another pitching” event. The DD&A team has selected the most promising teams and will help them prepare to present their games to the public. Thanks to this, they will further increase their chances of gaining the interest of publishers and investors. We are very happy that this year’s Arena attracted so many studios from over 40 countries and the level of submissions was very high. So even if you didn’t qualify for Arena, we hope you’ll stay in the Digital Dragons ecosystem,” says Klaudia Stawska-Magdziak, coordinator of Digital Dragons Arena.
Investors and publishers will also be able to meet six representatives of studios mentored by Digital Dragons Accelerator and Incubator – development programs implemented by the Krakow Technology Park for young game studios preparing to expand their businesses. By participating in said programs, they can gain unique knowledge and contacts that will allow them to develop their game projects further.
Organized by Krakow Technology Park, the Digital Dragons conference is currently one of the largest international events for the digital entertainment industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The main goal is to create a Business to Business (B2B) cooperation platform within the games sector in Europe. Tickets at regular price are on sale until the end of April on the organizer’s website.
MAIN SPONSOR
Techland is one of the biggest and best-known Polish game developers with studios in Wroclaw and Warsaw. For over 30 years, we’ve carried a tradition of providing gamers with unforgettable experiences. We’re an international team of over 400 highly-skilled professionals driven by a passion for gaming, always striving for the best quality.
We’re fueled by the support of our global community built on the foundation of successful AAA franchises such as Call of Juarez, Dead Island, or Dying Light. The gamers trust in our games has resulted in our newest project, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, selling more than 5 million copies across all platforms within the first month after release.
On top of continuously growing the world of Dying Light through a robust post-launch support plan for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, we’re also working on an unannounced AAA Open World Action RPG set in a brand new fantasy universe; our biggest project to date. Techland’s mission strictly determines every aspect of our work: we want to create unforgettable experiences.
MAIN PARTNER
Województwo Małopolskie is the Main Partner of the event: the regional authorities implementing a range of projects that serve innovation and economic development of Małopolska, and its attractiveness for investors. Małopolska is a perfect location for running business, particularly based on new technologies. Evidence of that is the number of new ventures growing every year, including dynamically developing tech start-ups. Thanks to the massive support given to entrepreneurship and the optimal utilization of EU funds and other public funds, Województwo Małopolskie positively stands out among other voivodships.
More information about the event can be found on the official website, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
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