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With just weeks of Early Bird Phase to go, devcom announces first Keynote and Highlight Sessions for #ddc2025

- Postmortem of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 headlines early program reveals -   

- Further highlights include Fleur Marty, Anders Lauridsen and David Fox - 

- First 50 speakers for #ddc2025 confirmed - 

Cologne, Germany, May 13, 2025 – With only a few weeks left till Early Bird pricing ends on May 31, the devcom developer conference 2025 (#ddc2025) has announced its first major program highlights. Europe’s largest game developer event returns to the Koelnmesse Confex Center in Cologne from August 17–19, 2025, following its record-breaking 2024 edition that attracted over 5,000 industry professionals from 83 countries. 

Headlining the first wave of speaker reveals is the keynote from the creators of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. For the first time ever, Ievgen Grygorovych, CEO & Game Director, and Mariia Grygorovych, Creative Director at GSC Game World, will reflect on the game’s extraordinary development process before an audience. This postmortem offers a powerful story about building a high-profile game under unprecedented conditions, including a global pandemic, devastating cyberattacks, the destruction of their office by fire, forced relocation, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. It is a rare story of survival, determination, and creative commitment in the face of overwhelming adversity. 

Other early program highlights include: 

From Storming to Performing: Coaching Game Dev Teams to Build Resilience in Chaos 
Fleur Marty, Executive Producer at Gearbox, will explore how game development teams can adapt and thrive in unpredictable, high-pressure environments. Drawing from her production experience and coaching methodologies, Marty will provide actionable strategies for fostering psychological safety, managing team dynamics, and converting uncertainty into creative momentum. 

Something, Something Design Pillars: Adventures in Product Design 
Anders Lauridsen, CEO of High North Studios, presents a case study of Skald to showcase how disciplined product design, guided by passion and purpose, can lead to successful positioning and marketing of niche games. The session offers both strategic insight and practical takeaways for design-oriented studio leadership. 

Postmortem: Rescue on Fractalus! – 40 Years Later 
David Fox, President and Co-Founder of Electric Eggplant and one of the original employees at Lucasfilm Games, will reflect on the development of Rescue on Fractalus!, one of the earliest examples of real-time 3D in games. Fox will share stories about the technical breakthroughs, team dynamics, early contributions from George Lucas, and how a “throwaway project” became a cult classic. Attendees will hear how the game was pirated before release, and why it remains influential four decades later. 

These sessions are a small preview of what devcom developer conference 2025 will offer. As in previous years, the conference will be held in a hybrid format, combining the in-person experience at the Confex with full online access through the Digital Pass. 

In 2024, devcom saw over 5,000 unique participants, a 45 percent increase over the previous year, along with 350+ speakers across more than 210 sessions and 17+ stages. Attendees represented 1,660 companies from 83 countries. Scholarship programs gave more than 200 participants free access and networking support and are to be expanded for 2025, as well as the Indie Expo and Showcase that supported developers in presenting their games. 

List of first 50 Speakers: 

Aaron Ludlow, he/him, Product Director, Playstack 

Alan Ashalley-Anthony, he/him, Consultant, Melanin Gamers 

Ali Reder, she/her; they/them, Game Designer, Wooga 

Anders Lauridsen, he/him, High North Studios 

Ann Grin, she/her, Concept artist\Character artist, Freelance 

Anna Sieprawska, she/her, Product Manager, InnoGames GmbH 

Annabel Ashalley-Anthony, she/her, Gaming Consultant, Melanin Gamers 

Annie Fox, she/her, Novelist, Electric Eggplant 

Antonia Koop, she/her, CEO, CobaltIED 

Bertine van Hövell, she/her, Narrative Designer, Lost Again 

Blaise van Dyck, he/him, Technical Level Designer, Limbic Entertainment 

Bryan Keiren, he/him, Principal Game Tech Programmer, Guerrilla 

Celia Hodent, she/her, Game UX Strategist,  

Chloé Boels, she/her, Streamer, founder of Stream'Her (community of women streamers) and TV /show host, Stream'Her, RTBF (Belgium national TV) 

Cody Matthew Johnson, he/him, Composer, Executive Creative Director, CEO, Emperia Sound and Music 

Craig Morrison, he/him, Studio Creative Director, Blue Scarab Entertainment 

David Fox, he/him, Electric Eggplant 

Dennis Quaisser, he/him, Business Development Manager, Pixel Maniacs 

Don Daglow, he/him, President, Sausalito Games Inc. 

Eline Muijres, she/her, Lead Producer, The Powell Group 

Erin Lu, she/her, Head of Business Development, IOI Gamer 

Fleur Marty, she/her, Gearbox Montréal 

Garry Seto, he/him, CEO / Head of Studio, Massive Damage Games 

Haron Younis, he/him, Art Director, Concept Artist, Kevir Entertainment 

Ievgen Grygorovych, he/him, GSC Game Worlds 

James Matthes, he/him, Audio Director, Founder, Pressure Cooker Studios 

Jarory de Jesus, he/him, Founder/Director, Coquito Games 

Jasmin Oestreicher, she/her, CEO, INSTINCT3 

Jon Everist, he/him, Composer, Composer 

Katja Schreiber, she/her, CEO, Disobey 

Kira Buczilowski, she/her, Senior Engine Programmer, IO Interactive 

Kris Wingfield-Bennett, he/him, Director, Future Friends Games 

Lena Ochman, she/her, Lighting Artist, Freelance 

Lukas Kure, he/him, Branch Manager, GIANTS Software (Czechia) 

Mads Skovgaard, he/him, CEO & Founder, Fair Games 

Maria Cornelius, she/her, Product Strategy Leader, Arrowhead Game Studios 

Mariia Grygorovych, she/her, GSC Game Worlds 

Michala Braker, they/them, Face Animation Specialist, JALI Research 

Mike Fischer, he/him, Professor of Interactive Media, University of Southern California 

Nabaz Sali, he/him, Creative Director | Character Artist, Kevir Entertainment 

Nicky Visentin, she/her, Head of HR, 24 Bit Games 

Nicolai Herrmann, he/him, Senior Tools Programmer, IO Interactive 

Parker Wallace, they/them, Director of Events & Operations, IGDA 

Ruslana Kruchek, she/her, Co-Founder, Brand Manager, Creative Director, VP Production 

Sahar Mirhadi, she/her, Doctoral Researcher, University of York 

Sule Nur Karaaslan, she/her, Level Designer, Freelance Game Designer 

Terrance Cohen, he/him, Senior Engine Programmer, Insomniac Games 

Vadim Charugin, he/him, Producer R&D, MY.GAMES 

Wilbert Roget, II, he/him, Composer, Roget Music 

Yves Le Yaouanq, he/him, Chief Content Officer, Focus Entertainment 

Deadlines for devcom and direct links: 

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About devcom 

devcom (devcom developer conference) is host of the official developer conference of gamescom, and Europe’s largest community-based event for games industry professionals. Throughout the year, devcom provides content, events and services tailored to the games industry based on its core values of diversity, inclusion and sustainability. 

The next devcom developer conference #ddc2025 will take place in Cologne from August 17-19, 2025. 

All devcom branded formats are developed & organized by game events GmbH, a subsidiary of game - Verband der deutschen Gamesbranche (the German Games Industry Association and owner of the gamescom & devcom brands). 

Your Press & Media contact:  

Robin Hartmann | he/him | robin@devcom.global 

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