First Playable 2020, record edition: all the numbers of the event
The first appointment of First Playable ended yesterday 2020, the main international B2B event for the gaming sector in Italy.
Organized by IIDEA and Toscana Film Commission with the support of the Department of Culture, Research and University of the Tuscany Region, it was held on 15 and 16 July 2020 in fully digital format, and precisely the adoption of this format has made it possible to record record numbers, enjoying great success.
During the two days of the event over 70 Italian video game development studios were able to meet 50 international publishers and investors from 15 countries: United States Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Spain, Russia, Poland, Cyprus, Romania, Taipei, Thailand and Israel. In less than 48 hours, 534 business meetings were set up, for a total of 267 meeting hours during which the developers were able to present their projects.
"The number of publishers registered on the MeetToMatch platform to have the opportunity to meet the Italian industry seemed promising from before the event, "said Fedor Van Herpen, Co-Founder & Director of MeetToMatch, matchmaking partner of First Playable 2020.
" Looking back, matchmaking statistics fully confirmed this impression. Of 56 registered buyers, 23 of them confirmed 10 or more meetings with Italian developers, thus highlighting the high demand for content and collaborations with Italian development studios ".
in Parallel with the networking sessions were held also 8 talk post-mortem on some of the major games made in Italy issued in the course of the last year. To intervene during these conferences were the following speakers:
the Max Ad of 34BigThings on the Readout: Space Assault Davide Barbieri of GhostShark Games, Daniel Gardens Demigiant, Gaetano Leonardi to La Boite and Benjamin Burnes of Abstraction Music on Still There Michele Giannone Invader Studios on Daymare: 1998 Mauro Fanelli of MixedBag about the Secret Oops! Pietro Polsinelli to Open Lab on the Football Drama Roberto Semprebene of Storm in a Teacup to Close to the Sun, Peter De Great of Strelka Games on the Circle of Sumo David Garofalo, Dario Pelella, Riccardo Landi, Marc D'souza of Xplored on the BULLS
In the course of the First Playable, held some special meetings.
The first appointment digital of Nintendo Italy, partner of the First Playable, during which the moderator Gabriella Giliberti (NetAddiction) spoke of the game the italians Still There, The Town of Light and Remothered: Tormented Fathers, and how video games can be film together with representatives of five Italian: Daniele Giardini (Demigiant), Federico Laudani (Stormind Games), Chris Darril (Darril Arts), Domenico Barbieri (GhostShark Games) and Luca Dalcò (LKA). To follow held the talk "Update on Epic and the Unreal Engine for the Italian community" by the Unreal Engine, a Platinum Sponsor of the First Playable 2020, during which the Evangelist for Epic Games, Sjoerd De Jong and Mario Palmero Pavon, have spoken of some of the latest news concerning the Unreal Engine, providing some anticipation about the eagerly awaited Unreal Engine 5, and the ecosystem of Epic Games. Red Bull has unveiled the Red Bull Indie Forge, a project that has the aim of selecting 5 talented team of developers italians from the support with a series of communication actions tailored to the characteristics of the game in the process. On the occasion of the next edition of the Milan Games Week, held from 26 to 29 November, a panel of industry experts will decide the team winner will be crowned "Winner of the Red Bull Indie Forge 2020". The mode of participation, and the regulation will be available on RedBull.com starting from the beginning of August 2020. On the evening of the first day of the First Playable 2020 was held in the live streaming of the award ceremony of the Italian Video Game Awards 2020, conducted by two presenters of exception: Julia Hardy and Aoife Wilson. During the event were announced the winners of the five award categories, selected by an international Jury, composed by Matthew Handrahan (GamesIndustry.biz), Sam Loveridge (GamesRadar), Taylor Lyles (collaborator for various publications in the sector, including The Verge), and Rami Ismail (Co-Founder of Vlambeer). Best Italian Game has been won by Close to the Sun to Storm in a Teacup Best Innovation was won by the Secret Oops! of MixedBag Best Italian Debut Game was won by the Football Drama of the Open Lab Outstanding Italian Company was won by Stormind Games in the Outstanding Individual Contribution has been won by Luisa Bixio (CEO, Milestone)
"the goal of The event was centered," said Thalita Malagò, General Director of IIDEA. The First Playable was created to allow the growth of Italian companies, helping them to grow in the international market and allowing them to forge contacts and collaborations with the main players in the sector. The numbers that we have registered with this edition, which are an evolution of what we did last year, we indicate that the direction taken is the right one."
"The first appointment of a First Playable 2020, 15 and 16 July, has just ended," he added, Stefania Ippoliti, Director of the Tuscan Film Commission. "Two days of intense, productive, fun, and online have seen the numbers really formidable. Toscana Film Commission is very satisfied with the results of this excellent start of the 2020 programme dedicated to the Italian industry of the video game".
First Playable 2020, however, is not yet finished: the new appointments will, in fact, the next few months of the year, giving continuity to what started on the 15th and the 16th of July. Starting from the two First Playable Business Talk with special guests that will be held on the channel " in the end of IIDEA.
The first meeting is scheduled for September 2, 2020 at 17.00 to talk about the latest news about the Unreal Engine and the future of this technology, the team at Epic Games, who will answer any questions in Italian developers.
The second meeting is scheduled for 16 September at 17: 00 with the talk "Opportunities with ID@Xbox," Agostino Simonetta, Director, Global Strategic Partnership Management ID@Xbox, which will be provided updates on the world of Xbox, including the Xbox Series X, Game Pass and xCloud.
In the coming weeks, further details will be found on the appointments of the First Playable 2020. In the while, all of the conference and the award ceremony of the Italian Video Game Awards are already available on the YouTube channel and on the page Facebook of the First Playable.
