V2 GAMING + SPILBAR: DEATH OF GAMING JOURNALISM?

Game Journalism is close to non-existent. In Denmark only niche media-outlets regularly concern themselves with an industry that is growing larger every year - and still the press coverage has been steadily declining over the last decade. What is happening? Is everything up to social media, streamers and influencers? Why should game devs even care about national media when a lot of their income come from international sources? And how do you get media outlets to show interest in your game?

Join us for stories from both developers and journalists at this special Winter-edition of SpilBar dedicated to Game Journalism hosted by Version 2 / IDA.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Everybody from the gaming community is welcome as well as anybody who wants to get an update on trends

SPILBAR - Informal, cozy, informational networks meeting in the Danish game industry. Hosted by DADIU, Interactive Denmark, Vision Denmark and The Danish Film Institute. Visit us at Facebook

V2/GAMING - For deeper insights and understaing of what's going on the gaming industry Version2.dk is the place to go. A bi-weekly newsletter brings you everything you need to know. Much more right here

IDA - represents the voice of technology – We are a professional organisation and trade union based on knowledge, networks and the interests of 140,000 members studying or working in engineering or IT. Check out what we can do for you

Grace Curtis
Gaming journalist and author

Grace Curtis is a games writer, among other things. She's freelanced for sites like Eurogamer, EDGE, and Fanbyte, covering everything from Elden Ring to rock climbing in VR. As part of pub/promo hybrid Future Friends Games, Grace has worked on viral marketing campaigns for indie hits including Vampire Survivors, Clone Drone in the Danger Zone and Exo One. She's also writing the script for the upcoming adventure game Europa and has a sci-fi novel out in March.

Søren Lundgaard
Ghost Ship Games
CEO

Søren is a game industry veteran with more than 20 years of diverse experience developing games for the global market on multiple platforms. Søren started out as a lead programmer and later transitioned to game director at Deadline Games making action games for PC and console. After a few years in the education field, he returned to the games industry and in 2016 he became part of the founding group of Ghost Ship Games where he took on the CEO role.

Carl Juul Nielsen
V2/Gaming
Redaktør

Carl Juul Nielsen is a games journalist. He’s been writing about the game industry for the last five years. First as a writer and critic at GameReactor and since as a journalist at Version2, where he’s been responsible for their coverage of the Danish game industry.

Rasmus Stouby
Bolverk Games
Marketing Genie

Rasmus Stouby is a trained journalist with a Master's degree in African Studies. You may remember him from such things as news and feature journalism, the vacuum cleaner guy at Avedøre power plant, and Mads Mikkelsen's butt. He currently works with attention-grabbing at Bolverk Games in Valby.

Thomas Vigild
Co-founder of SpilBar, Moderator

Thomas specialises in game design , technology, escape rooms, gadgets, apps, and game culture. He does reviews on apps, games, board games and gadgets for the national Danish newspapers "Politiken" and "Weekendavisen". As a consultant Thomas has advised organizations like DR (National Broadcasting Corporation), The National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment, The Danish Embassy in Paris, Experimentarium (national science center), Nordic Game Program, The Ministry of Culture + several libraries, schools and municipals.

Hans von Knut
Portaplay
Founder & Director

Hans von Knut Skovfoged is the Creative Director at PortaPlay, specializing in story-driven games grounded in reality. He focuses on creating games that communicate or draw parallels to real-life topics and themes, often relying on research or made in cooperation with topic specialists.

Thursday, February 9, 2023
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM	Doors open
4:35 PM - 5:10 PM	10 lessons from a games media Jack-of-all-trades	From longform essays to viral TikToks to narrative design, games writer Grace Curtis has done a little bit of everything. In this talk she'll take you through her unusual career: breaking into the industry, writing for publications like Eurogamer and EDGE, crafting marketing campaigns for hit indie titles, and much more. She'll share what she's learned along the way, some common misconceptions about games media, and (most importantly), how she thinks we can make this chaotic industry a better, kinder place.
5:25 PM - 5:40 PM	Open-development and traditional game journalism is just not a great combo	In this talk, Søren Lundgaard, CEO & Co-founder of Ghost Ship Games, will take you through the many attempts at attracting game journalist's interests towards Deep Rock Galactic.
5:40 PM - 5:55 PM	How to catch a Klepek	Rasmus Stouby describes a slew of futile attempts to get in touch with journalists at home and abroad to have them cover a game (Glyph) from Bolverk Games. These efforts include a billboard on Times Square, lengthy excel sheets, shaving his head, and a very, very disappointed reader's letter. It is also a story about finally breaking through to his favorite games journalist, Patrick Klepek (Kotaku, Giant Bomb, MTVGames, 1Up, Vice).
5:55 PM - 6:10 PM	How and why to get press coverage for a review-darling heavy on cultural heritage	PortaPlay recently launched the critically acclaimed and award winning Gerda: a Flame in Winter that depicts the occupation of Denmark from a civilian perspective. The talk will reveal how it managed to attract a good amount of Danish and European press coverage, and the effect of these two very different kind of coverings.
6:10 PM - 6:25 PM	If I could talk I’d tell you: Why journalists are not listening to game developers	It seems almost impossible getting games mentioned in traditional media – and when you actually get through it probably will not drive a lot more sales. So why even try and climb that mountain? Game journalist Carl Juul Nielsen will tell about his experience covering the Danish game industry, why he thinks the game industry shouldn’t give up on the press, and how the relationship between game developers and journalists could grow stronger.
6:25 PM - 6:50 PM	Panel discussion + Q&A - moderated by Thomas Vigild.	Join the debate
6:50 PM - 8:00 PM	Mingling, showcases of games and refreshments	Check out the latest demos and have a drink in the hallway
8:00 PM	SpilBar closes

SPILBAR 53: DEATH OF GAME JOURNALISM?

IDA, V2/GAMING + SPILBAR

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