For the third year in a row, Belgrade is visible on the busy Spring calendar of European conferences and b2b events for video game creators. Join us for two days of inspiring talks, practical sessions, free consultations, and expert advice, fireside chats, keynotes, loads of networking, amazing coffee and a party here and there!
This year we are proud to welcome our colleagues and peers, industry leadres from such companies as
PLAYERUNKNOWN Productions, Supercell, Rovio, Epic Games, 3 Lateral, Outfit7, Google, Unity, Intel, Nacon Studio Milan, Flemish Games Association, Untold Games, Demagog Studio, AppMagic Gamebiz Consulting, Algebra University, Crater Training Center, Dreamline Entertainment, Ebb Software, Croatian Game Developers Association, Euclidean Studios, Bohemian Pulp, Shosha Games, Karanovic & Partners, Moravcevic, Vojnovic and Partners in cooperation with Schoenherr & more!
Author of the book “UP DOWN UP”
Kim released his first game on Commodore 64 in the early 90's as a teenager. Spent every awake moment in the demo scene until he turned 20. Went on to learn everything "digital" he could find in his early 20’s. When he was 25 he decided that creating games was (still) his passion and started his first game studio. 10 years later as a founder and young leader of several studios he sold everything and moved to California with family to build the 1st PlayStation phone.Instead, ended up shipping PlayStation 4.
Later headhunted by King to lead "Pet Rescue Saga" franchise. Generated $500M+ in revenue and grew the studio to 100+ employees. Ventured into the land of business innovation and strategy at Paradox Interactive focusing on creating live experiments to improve engagement and monetization. At the age of 45, he spent most of his time on his core interest of "how can I help you grow your game company" in a way that is successful for you. All in all, shipped 50+ games and 100+ projects on 10+ platforms during the past 20 years. Find more about him in books "Generation 64" by Jimmy Wilhelmsson and "The Dream Architects" by David Polfeldt.
In short, Kim is experienced and passionate about building products and studios. Strong understanding of mixing business, operations and people foundation for establishing company strategies. Excellent knowledge of game development. He considers himself an Intrapreneur rather then an Entrepreneur. Good team-player who thinks stakeholder management can solve almost everything in large companies. Collected 8-bit consoles, still codes from time to time and sometimes stays up late to do pixel art.
Contemporary artist, Art Director of Disco Elysium
Art Director and creative co-lead of “Disco Elysium”. Works with pencils, paint and computers to make and study art.
Design Director, Rovio Entertainment Corporation
Michael has been making video games for nearly 30 years and playing them for even longer. After working across console and PC, he's spent the last 15 years in mobile: designing, consulting, running companies and studios and most recently as Design Director at Rovio (Stockholm).
Co-Founder, Untold Games
Passionate about video games from an early age, Elisa graduates in Computer Science from the University of Genova. During her postgraduate studies, she begins working as a freelance developer and in 2008 founds Foofa Studios. In 2013 the studio teamed up with actor and director Flavio Parenti and created Untold Games with the aim of developing immersive experiences with a strong storytelling component.
In 2018 Elisa Di Lorenzo was awarded for her work in the videogames industry the award the international Tecnovisionarie from Women&Tech – Associazione Donne e Tecnologie. The Tecnovisionarie award is awarded every year to women who in their professional fields have demonstrated vision, social awareness and transparency in terms of behaviour and ethics. Untold Games is currently working on TerraMars, a resource management/survival game with an adapting environment and AI driven storytelling.
Founder / XR Director & Producer, Film XR / VRrOOm
Georgy Molodtsov is an Award winning XR&Film Director/Producer, as well as XR Festival curator. His works were participating in Cannes XR, nominated for PGA Innovation Award and received Webby Award, European XR Award, Raindance Immersive Award.
As XR Festival curator he organised over 50 different XR film festivals and events in Europe and CIS. Graduated from documentary direction department of VGIK (All-Russian State Insitute of Cinematography, 2003-2008, Moscow Russia), worked as a freelance commercial and PSA director, as well as a programmer of the documentary sections of the Moscow International Film Festival (2008-2017). Master of Arts in Film and Video (American Unversity, School of Communication, 2013-2015, Washington, D.C.), Fulbright Graduate Fellow. Starting from 2016 became on of the leading experts in VR/360 video production, as well as producer and curator of various VR Film Festivals and showcases.
In 2018 became curator of the Open Frame VR Award within the goEast Film Festival (Wiesbaden, Germany), as well as a jury member for various international events (Geneva IFF, Raindance Immersive, Lichter Filmfest, etc). Organised various events such as VR_SciFest (Sweden), Russian VR Seasons initiative (over 30 international showcases of the best Russian VR content).
In 2019 founded Film XR, Georgian/Estonian company dedicated to the production and organization of international social VR events and projects, as well as animated VR&Film projects.
Starting from 2020 collaborates with VRROOM on the organization, producing and directing of online/ metaverse VR social events, including virtual concerts of Jean-Michel Jarre.
General Manager, Flemish Games Association
David Verbruggen has almost 30 years of experience in the videogame sector. He represents videogame developers, publishers and platforms in Belgium. Working closely with his local and international colleagues. David sits on the board of Video Games Europe, the European trade federation for publishers and platforms. He grew up with videogames and is now a dad of 2 teenagers playing games.
Art Director, Demagog Studio
Nikola Stepković is an architect and art director who lives and works in Belgrade. He completed his undergraduate and master's studies in architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. He primarily works in the fields of digital art, animation and architecture. He is one of the founders of ToBlink studio and the author of several short films, awarded in the country and abroad. Within the Demago Studio, as an Art Director and designer, he participated in the development of the games Golf Club Wasteland, The Cub and Highwater.
Advocacy Manager & Evangelist, Unity Technologies
Mark is the manager of Advocacy at Unity Technologies, with a strong technical background in 3D animation and rendering of film, video games, and industrial applications. Being a VFX industry vet with almost 30 years experience, Mark has had a front-row seat from the humble beginnings of time-intensive ray tracing all the way to today’s multi-GPU real-time LED megawalls. Adding to this vast knowledge of 3D game tech, Mark is an award-winning presenter with an engaging style of showcasing complicated technology. When not a stage presenting, Mark enjoys Formula 1, sim racing, photography, and virtual reality experiences."
Lead Product Manager, Outfit7
A quarter-life crisis kicked in a couple of years ago that luckily made her switch careers entirely. Now she is doing something she had only dreamed of as a kid, who grew up playing all the FPS classics and maintained a love for gaming throughout adulthood. Together with a team of product managers and other experts at Outfit7, she handles the LiveOps games and deliver awesome features, test new ideas and makes sure that their players have a good time while playing our most popular titles.
Head of DIGIC Studios
Attila began his DIGIC career 12 years ago as a coordinator, then 4 years later became the Director of Character Division. 4 months ago, he was appointed as Head of DIGIC Studios to our expanding Studios branch, created to leverage the maturing engine-based technologies in high-quality animated content creation for the gaming and entertainment industry.
Creative Director, Outfit7
It all started 33 years ago. Everything was dark, but kinda cozy. And then ... a shove! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Someone turn off the lights! Who are all these people? Already super annoyed. Nooooo, stop doing that. Can I go back? FINE, I’ll stay, but there better be cake.
That is how Žan explains his career path. Fast forward and together with his team of copywriters at Outfit7 he delivers across the funnel creative strategies, video scripts and social media activations for all of Outfit7’s global distribution campaigns.
Deputy Development Director, World of Warships: Legends, Wargaming
With over 10 years of experience in game development, Artem has worked on various PC, console, and mobile projects as a game designer and writer, later switching his career path to management. For the past 5 years, he has been working on World of Warships: Legends, overseeing the development of various gameplay features with an emphasis on LiveOps and Collaborations.
Partner, MVP in coop with Schoenherr
Andrea Radonjanin is a partner of Moravčević Vojnović and Partners in cooperation with Schoenherr. Andrea specializes in intellectual property (IP), unfair competition, media law and IT, digitization and technology law. Her impressive education includes a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Intellectual Property Law from the University of Nottingham, which she obtained between 2009 and 2014. She also holds a Masters in International Commercial Law from the same prestigious institution, which she obtained in 2008.
Environment Artist, Ebb Software
Andrea started working in game development after finishing studies in architecture. She co-founded indie studio Phobos where she focused on worldbuilding, overseeing the development of the game's open world map from initial conceptualization and level design to the final realization in game. She currently works as an Environment Artist at Ebb Software.
Contemporary artist, Art Director of Disco Elysium
Art Director and creative co-lead of “Disco Elysium”. Works with pencils, paint and computers to make and study art.
Founder / XR Director & Producer, Film XR / VRrOOm
Georgy Molodtsov is an Award winning XR&Film Director/Producer, as well as XR Festival curator. His works were participating in Cannes XR, nominated for PGA Innovation Award and received Webby Award, European XR Award, Raindance Immersive Award.
As XR Festival curator he organised over 50 different XR film festivals and events in Europe and CIS. Graduated from documentary direction department of VGIK (All-Russian State Insitute of Cinematography, 2003-2008, Moscow Russia), worked as a freelance commercial and PSA director, as well as a programmer of the documentary sections of the Moscow International Film Festival (2008-2017). Master of Arts in Film and Video (American Unversity, School of Communication, 2013-2015, Washington, D.C.), Fulbright Graduate Fellow. Starting from 2016 became on of the leading experts in VR/360 video production, as well as producer and curator of various VR Film Festivals and showcases.
In 2018 became curator of the Open Frame VR Award within the goEast Film Festival (Wiesbaden, Germany), as well as a jury member for various international events (Geneva IFF, Raindance Immersive, Lichter Filmfest, etc). Organised various events such as VR_SciFest (Sweden), Russian VR Seasons initiative (over 30 international showcases of the best Russian VR content).
In 2019 founded Film XR, Georgian/Estonian company dedicated to the production and organization of international social VR events and projects, as well as animated VR&Film projects.
Starting from 2020 collaborates with VRROOM on the organization, producing and directing of online/ metaverse VR social events, including virtual concerts of Jean-Michel Jarre.
3D generalist / VFX artist, Shosha Games
Graduated from the "Stari grad" high school in Belgrade in 2020. He then studied at the "Faculty of Contemporary Art" and graduated in 2023. After graduation, he worked as a freelancer on various projects, completed additional courses for stylized 3D characters and the SGA "Playing Narratives" program in 2022, where he took third place with his team. He then co-founded the studio Shosha Games in 2022, where he took on the role of 3D generalist and VFX
artist.
Solution Specialist, 3Lateral / Epic Games
Adam received his high school education at the 9th Gymnasium in Belgrade, after which he enrolled at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences with the idea of dealing with (operational) management. Although he was then interested in optimizing the work process, he began his career in a combination of circumstances in financial consulting at the international company EY. There, he made analyzes and reports that help with the acquisitions of larger companies (SBB, Imlek, Knjaz Milos, Bambi...). One of them was a turning point.
While working on the acquisition of 3Lateral by Epic Games he met the 3Lateral team. Today, it is in this company that it helps clients choose the right technology solutions, helps the growth of local startups and creative communities, and deals with marketing and public relations. Adam also has a great love for mentoring. During his studies and career, he mentored more than 100 students of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in groups, and individually (1 on 1) about 30 students and team members.
Producer / Sound Designer, Shosha Games
Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia. Graduated from high school „Sveti Sava“ in Belgrade, 2015. After graduation, he obtained his Bachelor's degree at the
Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Department of Sound Design and Recording in 2021. In the following years, he worked on a variety of projects as a sound designer
and was involved in productions in the fields of film, radio and stage events. After completing several courses in sound design and music composition for
video games at the SAE Institute, he co-founded the studio Shosha Games in 2022, where he took on the role of producer in addition to sound design and
music production.
General Secretary, CGDA
Aleksandar Gavrilović is the General Secretary of Croatian Game Developers Association and the Managing Director of Gamechuck. He has produced many videogames for PC, consoles and mobile, and wrote the highschool textbook Marketing and Monetisation of Videogames for the Technical School Sisak. Programmer by trade, now mostly making independent video games. Also interested in various other stuff such as creative writing, critical theory, the narrative arts and so on.
Co-Founder, Untold Games
Passionate about video games from an early age, Elisa graduates in Computer Science from the University of Genova. During her postgraduate studies, she begins working as a freelance developer and in 2008 founds Foofa Studios. In 2013 the studio teamed up with actor and director Flavio Parenti and created Untold Games with the aim of developing immersive experiences with a strong storytelling component.
In 2018 Elisa Di Lorenzo was awarded for her work in the videogames industry the award the international Tecnovisionarie from Women&Tech – Associazione Donne e Tecnologie. The Tecnovisionarie award is awarded every year to women who in their professional fields have demonstrated vision, social awareness and transparency in terms of behaviour and ethics. Untold Games is currently working on TerraMars, a resource management/survival game with an adapting environment and AI driven storytelling.
Founder, Bohemian Pulp
Đorđe started his career as a digital artist and graphic designer, but soon devoted himself to his passion for creating video games. Four years ago, he began a personal project that gained the attention of followers and publishers of MicroProse. In 2023, the project was supported by the local startup funds Raising Starts and Start Smart, and together with the support of the Serbian gaming community and the SGA, they built the Bohemian Pulp team, which now has six members. Currently, they are completing the first project Let Byons Be Bygones, a game that will debut on the global market in the first half of 2024.
General Manager, Flemish Games Association
David Verbruggen has almost 30 years of experience in the videogame sector. He represents videogame developers, publishers and platforms in Belgium. Working closely with his local and international colleagues. David sits on the board of Video Games Europe, the European trade federation for publishers and platforms. He grew up with videogames and is now a dad of 2 teenagers playing games.
Head of Ad Monetization, Gamebiz Consulting
Working in the mobile video games industry for more than five years, with a focus on ad monetization in the last three years. Currently heading Ad Monetization Team at GameBiz, helping game developers such as Wargaming, Goodgame Studios, Lockwood Publishing, Pixel Federation, BytroLabs, Nanobit, Two Desperados, Webelinx, etc. monetize their games with
ads, significantly increase their ad ARPDAU and revenue. Previously worked as a Business Development Manager at the most successful video games studio in Serbia, Nordeus, (now part of Take-Two Interactive),
managing ad monetization and key football partnerships for the flagship game, Top Eleven.
Senior Developer Relations Manager, Intel
Associated with the gaming industry since 2009. Member and founder of the Indie Games Polska Foundation. He started his work in the industry as a QA tester and translation and localization specialist. Then he was responsible for level design and production of, among others, Shadow Warrior and 2, and then for over 1.5 years he was involved in business development consulting. Mentor in ARP Games acceleration programs.
In recent years, he has been involved in the technology industry in the field of developer relations, first at AMD, currently at Intel as Senior Developer Relations Manager.
Partner, MVP in coop with Schoenherr
Marija Vlajković is a Partner specializing in data protection at Moravčević Vojnović i Partneri in cooperation with Schoenherr. With over 13 years of experience as an Attorney at Law with the same firm, Marija Vlajković has played a significant role in Serbia's legal field. Marija's expertise lies in Labor & Employment, Data Protection, Technology & Digitalization, IT & Technology law, where she has made notable contributions. She's a specialist in both Employment and Data Protection & Privacy, and her extensive knowledge establishes her as an influential expert. Her academic background includes LL.M degrees in Law and Economics from the University of Hamburg and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Author of the book “UP DOWN UP”
Kim released his first game on Commodore 64 in the early 90's as a teenager. Spent every awake moment in the demo scene until he turned 20. Went on to learn everything "digital" he could find in his early 20’s. When he was 25 he decided that creating games was (still) his passion and started his first game studio. 10 years later as a founder and young leader of several studios he sold everything and moved to California with family to build the 1st PlayStation phone.Instead, ended up shipping PlayStation 4.
Later headhunted by King to lead "Pet Rescue Saga" franchise. Generated $500M+ in revenue and grew the studio to 100+ employees. Ventured into the land of business innovation and strategy at Paradox Interactive focusing on creating live experiments to improve engagement and monetization. At the age of 45, he spent most of his time on his core interest of "how can I help you grow your game company" in a way that is successful for you. All in all, shipped 50+ games and 100+ projects on 10+ platforms during the past 20 years. Find more about him in books "Generation 64" by Jimmy Wilhelmsson and "The Dream Architects" by David Polfeldt.
In short, Kim is experienced and passionate about building products and studios. Strong understanding of mixing business, operations and people foundation for establishing company strategies. Excellent knowledge of game development. He considers himself an Intrapreneur rather then an Entrepreneur. Good team-player who thinks stakeholder management can solve almost everything in large companies. Collected 8-bit consoles, still codes from time to time and sometimes stays up late to do pixel art.
Owner, Doradztwo Prawne Kamila Dulska
Lawyer, supporting promotion of knowledge and building legal awareness among game-developers at industry conferences and training. Co-founder and vice-president of the Gamedev Lawyers Association. Lecturer at the Warsaw Film School on copyright in games. Member of supervisory boards of gamedev companies listed on the stock exchange. Providing legal and business advisory services to various entities in the gamedev industry for novice developers, indies, small and medium development studios, to publishers. Specializes in copyright and commercial law, with particular emphasis on corporate governance and investor relations.
Google Cloud Customer Engineer, Google
Milen is a Microsoft Exchange professional with experience across multiple industries. He has managed teams, projects and clients in the past as well as supporting multiple customers. This has given him a unique view of different approaches to work and a wealth of experience to draw from. His passion is delivering solutions that benefit businesses through technology.
Teaching Assistant, University of Novi Sad, Academy of Arts
Ivica Milarić was born in Novi Sad. Growing up, an IBM XT he got in 1990 opened his lifelong fascination with video games, and a video store membership card kickstarted his love for movies. A few years later, the City Library in Novi Sad gave him access to another art that he loves very much - literature.
In 2009, he graduated in Psychology from the Faculty of Philosophy in his hometown, and since 2014 he has been working in the entertainment industry as a video game designer. Since 2020, he has been working as a professional associate at the Video Game Design study program at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, where he became a Master of Dramatic and Audiovisual Artist in 2022. He has been fortunate to be involved in a number of educational projects, as well as continue to work within the entertainment industry, primarily on video game development and film art projects.
Demagog Studio, CEO & Creative Director
Igor Simić (born 1988) is a Serbian-American artist, filmmaker and video game director. Simic graduated from Columbia University in New York with a double-major in Film Studies and Philosophy. His short films screened at film festivals, such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2013; received awards, including the 1st Prize at Loop Barcelona 2015; and were exhibited at Kunsthalle Mainz, Ulm Museum, Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, The Art Institute of Chicago, and other art institutions.
As creative director and CEO, Simic co-founded the gaming company Demagog Studio, which created Golf Club: Wasteland (now Golf Club: Nostalgia) that was featured by Apple in 2018 and shown at Manifesta 14. The studio created two more games in the same world: The Cub, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2022 and Highwater for Netflix in 2023. Simic co-created the soundtrack Radio Nostalgia from Mars, which spans all three games and is available across music platforms. Igor is represented by Gallery Anita Beckers in Frankfurt.
Head of Study Program Game Development, Algebra University
Igor Margan graduated in History and Sociology at the University of Zadar. He decided to focus on game development and the application of his official education for the purposes of storytelling and design. He begins his career with education at Machine Game Dev Academy where he acquires additional specific knowledge needed for game development.
He has spent most of his career as a freelancer, and for the last four years, he has been collaborating with the University College Algebra as an external associate and assistant in the graduate study of Computer Game Development in Algebra, the first such graduate study in Croatia.
The courses he teaches and co-creates are Computer Game Planning, Narrative Design, and Scenario Creation. Starting from academic year 2023/2024 Algebra University College launches a new Professional Bachelor Study Programme in Game Development, and Igor takes the role of Head of Study
programme.
Head of User Acquisition, Gamebiz Consulting
Ramiz joined the Mobile Gaming industry at Two Desperados 5 years ago where he had a chance to manage multimillion-dollar budget campaigns on the biggest UA networks like Google, Facebook, Applovin, ironSource, Unity, Moloco, Liftoff, etc. Within those 5 years, he's managed to achieve profitable scale for both games x5 times, becoming the Marble Shooter category leader, opening successfully the APAC market, developing a soft launch strategy for a new game in a new genre, and building a strategy for retargeting that brought thousands of payers back in the game. 11 Months ago Ramiz joined GameBiz consulting as Head of UA to help gaming studios with all UA challenges.
Associate, Karanović & Partners
Pavle Vučetić is an Associate at the Karanović & Partners law office, where he works as part of a team specializing in corporate law. He deals with support in the field of the tech industry, providing corporate advice to startups, developers and companies dedicated to the production of video games.
Art Director, Demagog Studio
Nikola Stepković is an architect and art director who lives and works in Belgrade. He completed his undergraduate and master's studies in architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade. He primarily works in the fields of digital art, animation and architecture. He is one of the founders of ToBlink studio and the author of several short films, awarded in the country and abroad. Within the Demago Studio, as an Art Director and designer, he participated in the development of the games Golf Club Wasteland, The Cub and Highwater.
Head of IP, Karanović & Partners
Nikola Kliska is the Head of the Intellectual Property Practice at Karanović & Partners. He advises clients in the development of brand portfolios, with a special emphasis on regional presence in the Balkans. He has extensive experience in the fight against counterfeiting arising from his cooperation with customs, police, market inspectors and private investigators. Preventing parallel imports is one of his favorite topics. He is an independent lawyer in cooperation with Karanović & Partners.
Founder & CEO, Gamebiz Consulting
Nikola Čavić is the founder of GameBiz Consulting, an agency specialized in working with companies in the video game industry sector. Nikola is also one of the founders of the Serbian Games Association. Prior to that, he held the position of Development Director at Nordeus for seven years, where he played a key role in the business development of their most successful product - Top Eleven, as well as in the corporate development of the company.
Prior to Nordeus, at CCP Games in Reykjavik, he was responsible for the sales and global distribution of EVE Online during his 5 years at the company. Nikola has 15 years of experience in strategic planning, business development & publishing activities for mobile and "core" games.
Co-Founder, Nova Iskra
Nana is the co-founder of the first creative hub in the Balkan, Nova Iskra, which is one of the initiators of the European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN). She designs and implements mentoring programs, trainings and workshops for organizations, startups and companies interested in transforming their business, as well as improving the overall experience of collaboration and innovation.
She is a member of the Advisory Board of Creative Mentorship program, and supports numerous startups and teams in programs such as Ninja Accelerator, Venture an Idea, Idea, Smart Start, D Incubator, Raising Starts, Upgrade, Playing Narratives, Route2Launch... Nana provides support in domains such as team capacity building; mapping the values of the organization; team culture design, and many more.
Senior Manager, Games/Digital Productions, Unity Technologies
Mike is the leader of Advocacy and Community at Unity Technologies, where his passion for educating and inspiring creators can shine. Prior to joining Unity in 2013, he experienced life through the lens of an indie game dev, a university educator, and even briefly a wedding DJ. A gamer at heart, Mike loves being an advocate because he gets to build awesome and absurd Unity projects while making game development fun and accessible for everyone. His favorite questions are ones that make him say, “Wow, I have no idea... let’s find out!”
Design Director, Rovio Entertainment Corporation
Michael has been making video games for nearly 30 years and playing them for even longer. After working across console and PC, he's spent the last 15 years in mobile: designing, consulting, running companies and studios and most recently as Design Director at Rovio (Stockholm).
Advocacy Manager & Evangelist, Unity Technologies
Mark is the manager of Advocacy at Unity Technologies, with a strong technical background in 3D animation and rendering of film, video games, and industrial applications. Being a VFX industry vet with almost 30 years experience, Mark has had a front-row seat from the humble beginnings of time-intensive ray tracing all the way to today’s multi-GPU real-time LED megawalls. Adding to this vast knowledge of 3D game tech, Mark is an award-winning presenter with an engaging style of showcasing complicated technology. When not a stage presenting, Mark enjoys Formula 1, sim racing, photography, and virtual reality experiences."
Indie Games Polska / Game Industry Conference
A seasoned professional in the gaming industry, with a diverse background that spans across narrative development, production, and business development. His journey began as a scriptwriter at Picadilla, where he crafted compelling stories and characters, laying a solid foundation for his future endeavors. At Madmind Studio, Wojciech initially took on the role of a producer, where he was instrumental in bringing complex game projects to life, before transitioning into the role of Business Development Manager. In this capacity, he continues to drive the studio's growth and success, particularly with significant contributions to titles such as "Tormentor."
Beyond his contributions to game development, Wojciech is deeply invested in the quality assurance aspect of the industry. He has served as a reviewer for the first ISTQB syllabus dedicated to game testing, emphasizing his commitment to enhancing testing standards. His expertise has also made him a sought-after juror at game jams, where he evaluates and encourages emerging talent in the gaming world.
A regular speaker and educator, Wojciech shares his wealth of knowledge at both game development and testing conferences. Through his talks, he inspires the next generation of game developers and testers, offering insights gained from his extensive experience in the industry. His dedication to the field is evident in his ongoing efforts to explore and advocate for innovation, quality, and excellence in gaming.
VP of Product, AppMagic
Product manager with an analytical mind and a creative heart. Teacher. Mentor. Ready for a friendly conversation or a cup of coffee! Always asking "Why do we need it?" before doing something. Looking for the best solution in any situation. Supporting new ideas or decisions with data. Self-starter who can work both independently or within a development team. Big believer in people, always up for an exciting adventure!
Product Strategy and Go-to-Market Manager, Google
Vitaly is experienced Product Strategy and Go-to-Market Manager with a deep focus on Privacy and Regulatory Compliance. Throughout his career, he has honed his expertise in developing features and strategies to ensure ads products align with complex global privacy regulations. Vitaly is a strong advocate for responsible data practices and building user trust.
Admob Strategic Partnerships Development Manager, Google
Vera is a seasoned expert dedicated to helping apps and gaming developers maximize their revenue potential. With extensive experience in the mobile advertising landscape, Vera is eager to share deep knowledge of ad monetization optimization strategies, best practices in ad placement, and cutting-edge ad formats.
Game Developer, Euclidean Studios
Vanja is a VR and game developer - by day he works at the International Committee of the Red Cross and develops VR simulations for training purposes, By night he makes Nazralath with Euclidean Studios. Learning about technology, society and art in order to become equipped to handle complex civilization-scale tasks. Long-term goal is to be capable to make the right decisions when they matter most. Strong background in working with data, extracting insights from it and telling stories. He is also a member of Board of Directors of the Serbian Games Association.
Animator/3D Generalist, Crater Training Center
When someone asks him what does he do, he likes to say, "I'm achieving my dream and helping others achieve theirs." Vladan is a multi-disciplinary digital artist with a demonstrated history of working in the entertainment industry for 15 years, and 10 years specifically in the feature film industry. He also teaches various courses and provides professional training in motion design and post-production in two languages (Serbian and English). Currently working as a Motion Designer, Digital Compositor, and 3D Generalist. He thrives on challenging himself in different environments and situations, both professionally and personally. Eager to meet and collaborate with people from other countries and cultures.
Audio Director, Demagog Studio
Shane is an electronic music producer and sound designer creating audio for short films and games. His commercial audio work appears on campaigns for multinational firms such as Red Bull, SuperCell, Riot, and many more.
Shane is an accomplished recording artist with music released on labels such as Trapez, Ministry of Sound, Kompakt, Sinewave NYC, and Greta Cottage Workshop, and he has more than a decade of live performance experience on the underground techno scenes in Tokyo and Belgrade.
Shane is currently based in Tokyo, Japan as the Audio Director for the award-winning Demagog Studio.
Senior Gaming Growth Manager, Google
Googler with over 9 years experience working with Mobile Gaming developers, AAA studios and media agencies. Helping app developers grow their business and scale. Particularly focusing on Creatives, UA Campaigns and helping gaming studios build their branding strategies.
Co-Founder, Epic Assistants
Relja Dereta has 15 years of experience in almost daily public performances, from training in various fields to dance performances. He has combined his experience as an Argentine tango instructor, activism trainer and speaker trainer into a unique, comprehensive system of developing communication and public speaking skills: guiding speakers through the entire process, from concept design, to speech structure development to public speaking. It becomes a source of pleasure and inspiration, not stress and discomfort.
Since 2010, he has worked individually with over 400 speakers to prepare their speeches. He advises world experts in
formulating their ideas and has collaborated as a trainer and consultant with a number of global and regional companies and institutions. He is active in the startup community in Belgrade, where he cooperates with relevant institutions and helps entrepreneurs communicate their ideas.
Head of Tax & Finance, Gamebiz Consulting
Pavle is a tax and finance professional with 10+ years of experience and is currently specialized in financial management for small and medium sized video game developers and other creative teams. He is a lawyer by education, but has spent most of his career neck deep in P&Ls and accounting ledgers. His corporate past life can be seen primarily in his preference for the Microsoft Office suite and his inclination to end his emails with “Kind regards”.
CEO & Creative Director, Nacon Studio Milan
Marco Ponte, Nacon Studio Milan CEO and Creative Director, has over 20 years experience in the game industry, and a portfolio counting more than 25 published titles. His company Nacon Studio Milan (70+ employees) is currently working on Terminator: Survivors, a survival open world video game set in the universe of the famous movie franchise. The company also fully owns a division specialized in racing video games: RaceWard Studio.
3D Environment Team Lead, Dreamline Entertainment
Dragana Milošević is an architect whose passion for architectural design found its perfect place in the world of gaming. She began her journey as a freelancer. Now, she works as a Team Lead at Dreamline Entertainment, a company she and her colleagues co-founded.
As Team Lead, her job is to keep the projects running smoothly. That means managing deadlines, resources and workflows to ensure everything comes together successfully. She enjoys teamwork and is always ready to support new ideas and projects.
International Growth Consultant, Gaming, Google
Alfredo is a seasoned international growth strategist specializing in the dynamic apps and gaming industry. With 8+ years of experience, he helps ambitious companies conquer global markets through data-driven insights, localization expertise, and tailored expansion strategies.
Head of DIGIC Studios
Attila began his DIGIC career 12 years ago as a coordinator, then 4 years later became the Director of Character Division. 4 months ago, he was appointed as Head of DIGIC Studios to our expanding Studios branch, created to leverage the maturing engine-based technologies in high-quality animated content creation for the gaming and entertainment industry.
Founder & Art Director, Lav Games
Vuk Banović is an Art Director at Lav Games and New World Interactive with over 15 years of experience in the industry, with 12 titles released and 5 currently in development. Skills Vuk is versed at are Art Direction, Team Management, Art Outsource Management, Environment Art, Level Design, World Building, Level Optimization, Art Content Optimization and Art Content Creation, amongst others. Software that he regularly uses are Maya, Unreal Engine, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, Houdini, Photoshop, Mudbox, Zbrush, CryEngine, Quixel Suite, 3dsMax, xNormal, Source and Marvelous Designer.
Founder / Voice Actor, Blabla Media
Full time voice actor and voice over artist in Serbian and English language. Born 1979 in Valjevo, Serbia. Graduated from Faculty of Civil Defense, Belgrade University, in 2006. Started doing voice acting in 2012 as a hobby, and voiceovers in 2016 as a part time job. In March 2023 founded BLABLA MEDIA, a studio for voice recording and audio/video production. Besides
voice acting, teaches voice acting and public speaking, and organizes education for gamedev studios on best practices of cooperation between gamedevs and voice actors.
Executive Manager, SGA
In charge of member relations, ecosystem building, SGA programs, as well as events and initiatives, Kris is there to communicate with relevant stakeholders and provide all information about Serbia's growing gaming ecosystem. With a strong background in journalism, communications, project management and dozens of trophies on her PS4 profile, she is always in the mood to talk about gaming and find a way to support young creatives and new projects. She has been with SGA since the very founding of the association and is dedicated to developing the domestic gaming industry and the visibility of our teams, companies and games locally, but also globally.
Global Product Lead - Immersive InGame ads, Google
Marko is a seasoned entrepreneur in the digital advertising space, he brings a wealth of experience and passion for innovation. Since joining Google in 2015, he’s been driving sustainable growth for Web and Video partners as well as leading Global Channel App business. For the last 4 years he's been at the forefront of product development and go-to-market strategy for Immersive InGame Ads. In his session, he’ll take you on a multi-dimensional journey of innovative ad format, that is fun, engaging and non-interruptive for users, provides value for advertisers and additional revenue stream for publishers.
Head of SMB Gaming, Appdev Sales, EMEA, Google
Sales leader with a decade of experience in the Tech industry, her background spans Strategy, Operations and Product Management. With a proven track record of successfully leading cross-functional projects globally, she is deeply passionate about solving complex problems with an interdisciplinary approach combining concepts and mental models from business, technology, philosophy and psychology. As a Googler with 11 years experience working with App developers including Gaming studios, ECommerce businesses across AMER, EMEA and APAC. With a background in Strategy, Operations and Product, Surabhi focuses on bringing a holistic business perspective to digital marketing.
Program Director, SGA
Relja is the author of numerous cultural and artistic projects realized in Serbia, as well as throughout Europe, in the USA and Canada. He is active as an independent curator, manager in the field of arts and cultural events, music promoter, radio author and translator. He has initiated and participated in hundreds of events, founded four international festivals, conceived many exhibitions, conferences, publications and informal educational programs.
In 2012, he was one of the founders of the creative hub Nova Iskra, and later the European Creative Hubs Network. He prefers to design physical and cognitive spaces where young creatives can collaborate and create in new ways.
Founder, Phobos
With over two decades of experience in software engineering, Ivan is a project lead with expertise in simulation and gaming at Phobos, an Indie Game Dev company that's developing its first game with Unreal Engine.
Engine Programmer, 3Lateral / Epic Games
Bojan is a Game Developer and Engine Programmer fluent in both Unreal and Unity. He is also experienced software developer wickedly specialized in Microsoft. NET technologies. He spent more than a decade creating C# code and extensively worked in all Visual Studios from 2005 to 2017.
He is highly familiar with most of the up-to-date technologies used in both web and windows forms based development having extensive knowledge of ASP.MVC, Linq2SQL, SQL, Entity Framework, ADO.NET, WCF, JavaScript, Jquery, HTML and CSS. His latest passion and professional calling is manifested by game development and game design with three years experience in Unity3D and two years experience with Unreal Engine and C++.
He has a drive and positive results as a team leader enabled by rational soft skills and affiliative approach to people. He also ventured into the world of data visualization and data storytelling using D3 JavaScript libraries.
VP, Marketing, Nordeus
A data-driven marketing leader, workouts & gaming geek, with a demonstrated history of more than 10 years working in the mobile games industry and global media agencies leading marketing teams for global brands. A current focus is launching new Nordeus projects and further growing Nordeus flagship game Top Eleven as a market leader in the football management genre, together with an awesome recently added sports game Golf Rival game from Zynga studio Starlark.
General Manager of "Clash Royale", Supercell
Aleksandar is Ćuprija-born, Belgrade-bred, Helsinki based game developer with 15 years of F2P experience. Starting as a programmer, he swiftly transitioned to design and product roles, collaborating with various studios of different sizes. Currently, he serves as the General Manager for Clash Royale.
CEO, SGA
Mihajlo Jovanović-Džaril is a lawyer with a gamer's soul and one of the founders of SGA. He graduated from the University of Belgrade, and after a short career as a lawyer and consultant at EI, in 2016 he founded the company Fortuna Esports, which soon became the leading regional organizer of esports competitions and producer of gaming content and which, through a partnership with United Media, brings esports to TV. Mihajlo has been a member of the SGA Board of Directors since the very beginning of the association in 2018, and currently serves the DGU as its director.
Katapult Accelerator, Innovation Fund in Serbia
Mlađan is currently leading Katapult accelerator and Serbia Ventures programs at the Innovation Fund through which he designed and implements support mechanisms are desi. He is an expert in designing support programs and financial instruments for various stakeholders in the innovation community. He studied and worked at the University of Belgrade, Delft, and Wageningen. In the past 20 years he worked with Michelin and Shell, after which he moved to the European Patent Office. As a consultant for the World Bank, he is working on the development of private sector support programs in Bosnia, Croatia, Poland, and Vietnam. He is interested in a broad range of policy support mechanisms that are utilized to enable fast growth of private sector powered by innovation.
Creative Director, Outfit7
It all started 33 years ago. Everything was dark, but kinda cozy. And then ... a shove! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Someone turn off the lights! Who are all these people? Already super annoyed. Nooooo, stop doing that. Can I go back? FINE, I’ll stay, but there better be cake.
That is how Žan explains his career path. Fast forward and together with his team of copywriters at Outfit7 he delivers across the funnel creative strategies, video scripts and social media activations for all of Outfit7’s global distribution campaigns.
Lead Product Manager, Outfit7
A quarter-life crisis kicked in a couple of years ago that luckily made her switch careers entirely. Now she is doing something she had only dreamed of as a kid, who grew up playing all the FPS classics and maintained a love for gaming throughout adulthood. Together with a team of product managers and other experts at Outfit7, she handles the LiveOps games and deliver awesome features, test new ideas and makes sure that their players have a good time while playing our most popular titles.
Founder & Creative Director, Studio oio.
Simone Rebaudengo is a Co-Founder and Creative director at oio - a creative company on a quest to turn emerging technologies into an approachable, everyday and sustainable reality for humans and beyond. Previously he designed future scenarios and products for The Museum of the Future in Dubai, founded a design fiction practice called automato.farm and he was lead designer at BMW Designworks and frog.
His work focuses on building experiential visions of the future and exploring the implications of living and interacting with networked, smart and not-so-human things. His projects have been awarded by Red Dot Design Award, Core77, Interaction Awards and exhibited in galleries and museums such as Vitra Design Museum, Triennial Museum in Milan and MAK Vienna.
Associate Art Director, Sperasoft
Over 9 years of experience in creating art for video games with an emphasis on environment art and team management. Sergey is an outstanding concept artist who has created numerous gorgeous worlds for AAA games, especially for the multiplayer direction of ”Halo Infinite”.
CEE Mobile Gaming and Apps Lead, Google
Mariusz Gasiewski has been with Google since 2007. He works with top gaming, apps, gambling companies in the CEE region. During most of his career, he has helped some of Google’s biggest clients in Central and Eastern Europe prepare and implement mobile strategies. He is a frequent speaker at gaming and mobile conferences and a founder of GameCamp (www.gamecamp.io), one of the biggest mobile gaming and apps specialists communities in Europe.
GP and Managing Partner, The Games Fund
llia is a video game industry veteran with over 18 years of experience. He began his career in 2007 as a 3D artist and then held various development roles in
international gaming companies. Over the years, he has evolved from an artist to a game designer, game director, studio manager, creative and executive producer, and ultimately, investor.
In 2018, Ilia joined the MGVC and became one of the first professional investors in the European video games industry. In 2021, he co-founded The Games Fund, a $50m independent VC fund focused on early-stage European gaming companies. Today, The Games Fund is one of the industry's leading VC funds, holding the largest gaming portfolio in Eastern Europe and Cyprus, and is recognized as one of the TOP early stage gaming investors by Investgame.net and Drakestar partners.
Associate Professor / Founder, Metropolitan University / Vidra
Crafting one of a kind narratives using state-of-the-art technology, with extensive experience in real-time graphics, gaming, new media, creative industries, event and exhibition design. New Media Designer and Creative Technologist from Belgrade, Serbia.
Passionate about art, design and technology. More precisely, their intersection as platform for creating immersive narratives and experiences. Skilled in creative coding, rapid prototyping, AR/VR development, 3D modeling, motion graphics, rendering, UX/UI/FUI design, game engine utilization, video editing and sound design. Recently, he started experimenting with deep learning and AI in art.
Works as a Creative Tech Specialist at Galerija12 in Belgrade, Associate Professor at Metropolitan University, as the Founder of Vidra creative studio and also as an independent digital artist. Milan is also Epic Authorized Instructor Partner for Unreal Engine.
Co-Founder & CBDO, Kinoa
Hen Gelberg is a LiveOps pioneer and gaming industry veteran with an impressive track record of driving revenue growth, building strategic roadmaps, and delivering operational excellence through leadership.
With a decade of expertise in the mobile gaming industry, Hen has held senior executive roles across consumer digital and gaming companies, providing her with an intrinsic knowledge that very few possess. From the early days of the groundbreaking hit Slotomania to its rocking success as the top-grossing social casino game, Hen led the monetization and LiveOps teams responsible for revolutionizing the field. She built and scaled the internal LiveOps processes and tools that paved the way for the LiveOps revolution.
After serving as the General Manager at Pixode, where she oversaw a talented team of over 100 employees dedicated to developing and operating the company's games, Hen co-founded Kinoa. Her mission is to empower game developers worldwide to unlock their true revenue potential through cutting-edge LiveOps solutions. Today, Hen leads and consults teams across various companies, implementing data-driven LiveOps strategies that boost key metrics and propel revenue growth.
Co-Founder, Bleak Faith
Mišo Vukčević is a multimedia artist whose innovative approach to visual creation opens up new dimensions. He has received recognition for his artistic abilities and is an American scholarship recipient at Davidson College. In addition, he regularly lectures at prominent colleges like MIT and Drexel, sharing his extensive knowledge of creating virtual environments. Together with his brother, they are the creators of the 3D video game "Bleak Faith: Forsaken”.
People Operations Manager, Materriya
Bojana's path into media and entertainment was guided by a passion for education and a desire to contribute. With a solid background in andragogy, she discovered her calling in facilitating training and workshops at Crater Training Center. Now, as the People Operations Manager at Materriya, Bojana is a part of the team that is developing training, workshops and events within the Epic Games Novi Sad community. Together, they're crafting opportunities that not only inspire but also empower the community to reach new heights.
President of the Board, SGA
Marija Ilic is a gaming industry expert and advisor. As a gaming studio co-founder, wearing many hats during a 15+ years long career gave her broad experience and expertise in both creative and leadership roles.
Marija is currently the President of the Board at Serbian Games Association, a non-profit, non-government organization, with the goal of supporting growth of the video games sector in Serbia.
For the last five years, Marija has been part of the Google for Startups network of mentors, where through various programs she participates in mentoring startups on the topic of leadership, as well as product growth and development.
Deputy Development Director, World of Warships: Legends, Wargaming
With over 10 years of experience in game development, Artem has worked on various PC, console, and mobile projects as a game designer and writer, later switching his career path to management. For the past 5 years, he has been working on World of Warships: Legends, overseeing the development of various gameplay features with an emphasis on LiveOps and Collaborations.
HR and organisational consultant, OBRT
A consultant specialising in HR and organisational development at OBRT, is dedicated to supporting and creating engaging employee experience through a range of initiatives. With experience from the tech and gaming companies, Kristina designs developmental projects related to teams and organisations. Her primary goal is to create a supportive space for open dialogue, reflection, recognizing these elements as necessary for development and innovation.
L&D Consultant, OBRT
A researcher in the world of learning and development with over ten years of experience in designing, developing, and facilitating learning processes. Currently she is working with the OBRT on channelling and further development of various initiatives in the field of growing teams and individuals. Tamara's all about empowering individuals, groups, and teams to reach their professional and project goals through training, coaching, and mentoring methods. She has collaborated with diverse community groups and employees in fast-growing tech companies, equipping them with the tools they need to thrive and create a healthier, more sustainable environment.
Associate, EBRD
Dejan Tonic holds the position of Associate in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), at the SME Finance & Development Group since 2013. He is primarily responsible for regional coordination of the Star Venture Programme in the Western Balkans. Following different appointments within many international organizations, on various development projects funded by the EU, the World Bank, USAID and other donors, civil society, international consulting businesses, trade/lobby association, and relevant institutions, Dejan has been engaged in the fields of international development, innovation, public and youth policy, social activism and environment, and has collaborated with more than 1,000 different businesses during his career. Dejan holds BA in International Relations and MA in International Law, he has been working on his PhD in International and European Studies (all at the University of Belgrade), while also holding Georgetown University’s certificate in Public Policy.
Google Cloud Customer Engineer, Google
Milen is a Microsoft Exchange professional with experience across multiple industries. He has managed teams, projects and clients in the past as well as supporting multiple customers. This has given him a unique view of different approaches to work and a wealth of experience to draw from. His passion is delivering solutions that benefit businesses through technology.
Matija jumped on a wild rollercoaster of a career about ten years ago, working through UI/UX Design, Motion Design, Graphic Design, Video Production, Employer Branding, Digital Advertising, and Project Management. As if that wasn't enough, on his own time he fiddled with 3D modeling, cinematics, VFX, and game development basically anything that let him play with cool visuals and tech. His interests and professional adventures finally found a home at Mad Head Games, where he's now the principal UI/UX designer working on an undisclosed game.
