The F&S Games Industry Forum returns as an event for promoting opportunities and learning

Fun & Serious, the biggest ‘gaming’ festival designed ‘for gamers’ in Europe, has announced a new edition of its GAMES INDUSTRY FORUM (GIF), an initiative already launched last year but now significantly strengthened. This meeting for professionals and creators from the industry, to be held in the Euskalduna Palace of Bilbao on December 8 and 9, is considered to provide a unique opportunity for networking, growth and innovation, since it brings together all the players within the industry: designers, developers, publishers and investors.  The most cutting-edge studios on the international scene will get together in Bilbao with business angels, distributors and representatives of the great gaming platforms.

Designed with the dual dimension of a B2B business forum and a formative meeting point, GIF includes activities such as speed-dating meetings for creators with potential financiers, meetings with specialized media, networking areas, as well as hands-on workshops and targeted round tables aimed at creating business and analyzing success stories. A new MatchMaking tool will provide a challenging and effective meeting point for representatives from this industry.

Three fundamental objectives underpin this event:

·         to help to  strengthen the Spanish industry that revolves around video game development

·         To collaborate in terms of promoting Spanish talent abroad

·         To provide the international independent video-game sector with a point of entry into Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Through its program, GIF’s mission is to help participating companies and professionals to strengthen their networks and enhance their knowledge in such important business areas as creative talent within the complex world of technology.

GIF will feature speakers of the highest stature in order to analyze and comment on the characteristics of the international video game market, a business sector with enormous potential for expansion in the future.  Cutting-edge publishers such as Devolver Digital, Rising Star Games, KISS ltd, Abylight, Headup Games and Raw Fury will share space with investors such as Travis Winstanley (KUJU) and industry experts such as Ekaterina Nemova (Wargaming).

New independent promising young talents will also have their own meeting point and launch platform aimed at investors, the public and the media in the Indie Zone, which will not only welcome some 25,000 visitors to F&S, but also the large media banners specializing in video games. At previous F&S editions, the Indie Zone has been visited by indispensable industry names such as TeamGotham, Milkstone, Pixel Cream, Binary Soul, Minduck, Gato Salvaje and many others.

With these initiatives, the Fun & Serious Game Festival, a one-of-a-kind event that brings together the culture and digital entertainment industries, confirms its firm commitment to the video game genre, both as one of the most vibrant creative media and as a form of entertainment that brings together millions of people around the world: a driving force for innovation and employment for current and future economies, and a key cultural export to raise awareness of a country’s creative potential.

BILBAO | Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Palace of Euskalduna and Bilbao City Hall
From 8 to 11 December 2017

https://www.funandseriousgamefestival.com/

Press Contact:  Ana Calleja Vieites // ana.calleja@ziran.es //  +34 617676995

About the Fun & Serious Game Festival

The Fun & Serious Game Festival, to be held from 8 to 11 December in Bilbao, is the largest video-game festival in Europe and a key meeting-point for the industry as a whole. Last year, more than 25,000 people attended the different activities at the festival in Bilbao.

The event’s mission is to recognize and promote the work of video-game producers, directors, artists and developers, based on a comprehensive program of conferences, roundtables, networking and activities, aimed at both companies and the general public. As is customary each year, the Festival will conclude with an exclusive Grand Prize-Winning Gala for the best video-games of the year.

The Fun & Serious Game Festival enjoys the support of the Basque Regional Government – SPRI, Bilbao City Hall and the Provincial Council of Biscay. Sponsored by BBVA and El Correo. The event’s strategic partners include Microsoft, PlayStation and Ubisoft. The Festival features the collaboration of the Spanish Video-Games Association (AEVI), UTAD, Virtualware and Digipen.

https://www.funandseriousgamefestival.com/

About Fun & Serious Festival

The Fun & Serious Game Festival, held every December in Bilbao, is the largest video-game festival in Europe and a key meeting-point for the industry as a whole.

The event’s mission is to recognize and promote the work of video-game producers, directors, artists and developers, based on a comprehensive program of conferences, roundtables, networking and activities, aimed at both companies and the general public. As is customary each year, the Festival will conclude with an exclusive Grand Prize-Winning Gala for the best video-games of the year.

The Fun & Serious Game Festival enjoys the support of the Basque Regional Government – SPRI, Bilbao City Hall and the Provincial Council of Biscay. The event’s strategic partners include Microsoft, PlayStation and Ubisoft. The Festival features the collaboration of the Spanish Video-Games Association (AEVI), UTAD, Virtualware and Digipen.