Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: BIG Digital, brazil

BIG Digital Announces Full Program Guide & Virtual Panel Schedule

Published Thu, 11 Jun 2020 00:45:35 -0500

Brazil's biggest game convention BIG Digital has released the full online program guide and virtual panel schedule for the 2020 event. Like a lot of events this year, the organizers had to move their events online due to COVID-19 but did not let the outbreak get them down. You can check out some of the major additions below along with links to their programming.

Credit: BIG Digital

True to BIG Festival's physical event, BIG Digital will host an incredible lineup of industry leaders who will give talks that discuss Brazil's thriving video game industry and its connection to the international market. A full list of special guest speakers can be found here. Among the many renowned speakers set to attend, BIG Digital's special guests include:

Andromeda Sound's Antonio Teoli, an award-winning composer whose credits include Nintendo, SEGA, Samsung, and many others;

ARVORE Immersive Experiences' Ana Ribeiro, creator of the critically-acclaimed Pixel Ripped franchise;

Epic Games' Unreal Evangelist Paulo Souza; and

Microsoft Studio's Carla Rylance (nDreams, Imaginati Studios, and currently The Coalition);

Drussila Hollanda-Grönberg, game and project lead at Supercell, and founder of Hive Helsinki Code School;

Reginaldo Valadares, a pioneer in Brazil's online multiplayer games industry, currently General Manager and Vice President of Product at Scopely.

In addition to the previously announced 2020 Brazilian Games Showcase, BIG Digital will include two days of diverse, industry-focused panels, including those below. The complete program for BIG Digital can be found here.

Welcoming Diverse Perspectives to Broaden Gaming Experiences: Marcos Silva, founder and partner of Sue the Real — a game studio that focuses on Afro-Brazillian narratives — discusses the dominance of the white male perspective in videogames and explores other narratives that seek to change this aspect of the industry.

Brazil — A New Look From Abroad: Andromeda Sound's Antonio Teoli and Doppio Games' Jefferson Valadares lead a panel of four globally recognized industry experts as they discuss the global perception of Brazil's games industry.

The State of the "Indie-stry": Panelists Yves Le Yaouanq (Ubisoft), Christopher Wulf (Those Awesome Guys), Paulo Luis dos Santos (Flux Games Studio), and Limpho Moeti (Nyamakop), discuss the independent games industry and how power has shifted from publishers to developers and what that means to independent studios.

MADE IN BRAZIL: The Talented Brazilian External Development (XD) Market: From art to sound to coding, Brazilian game companies are developing amazing components for AAA games. Kokku's Thiago de Freitas introduces the work of internationally recognized teams whose excellence has contributed to some of the world's most renowned games.

4-Steps for Successful Due Diligence in the New Normal: The Coalition's Carla Rylance, a member of the External Development Summit's (XDS) advisory board, discusses frameworks to facilitate new work-from-home initiatives enacted by 94 percent of the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.