16.09.2021
Black Caviar Games: DevGAMM as a defibrillator for the heart of the industry
DevGAMM Moscow 2021 was the first offline conference we had attended in a long time. The last time it had a "live" format was in 2019 in Minsk, but then the lockdown hit, a bunch of processes went online, and we had to hope that it would end as soon as possible... Konstantin Karzhanovsky and Alexey Stolyarov share their impressions from attending the conference in Moscow.
Alexey Stolyarov, Konstantin Karzhanovsky.
Konstantin Karzhanovsky, Business Development Director:
The most surprising thing for me was that the conference was attended by as many people as I felt there weren't even before the lockdown. And this is taking into account that now there are all sorts of restrictions on the number of visitors for public events. It was obvious that everyone missed the offline events and, in general, the live communication and networking. It's one thing when you communicate online and quite another when you see your interlocutor in person at arm's length. I never thought that such seemingly trivial things would be so lacking. The organizers took a great risk by deciding on the offline format. There may suddenly be new restrictions and headaches with the cancellation of partners, speakers, replacement of the webinars, etc. In my memory, this has already happened with mass events, and I'm glad that everything worked out!

Separately, I want to note the program - there were a lot of round tables, various activities for visitors, and a ride of unheard-of generosity on merch and memorable gifts. I especially liked the interview with Victor Savyuk, who launched Dendy in Russia - for our industry, it was a legendary event, and it was great to say thank you to Victor for a happy childhood. For the rest - we managed to hold a total of over sixty meetings and negotiations, gather a bag of contacts, and see the projects of colleagues in the industry. Lerika, thank you for making the heart of the industry beat, even if you have to use a defibrillator)
Alexey Stolyarov, Head of PR & Marketing:
I couldn't agree more with Kostya about mass... I had a feeling that there was no place to fall. Both days, including the pre-party, were full, but this is pleasant tiredness, which happens after the conferences. I do not know how the organizers could do it after a long break, but it was bright, cheerful, and powerful. In addition to the chance to talk to colleagues about the essentials, gaming conferences allow you to get feedback on your own projects, which in other contexts is either quite difficult or this process is delayed for a very long time. Here you can also talk to seasoned friends and visitors who are seeing the game for the first time to see their reactions and problems that arise at different stages. This time we didn't exhibit at the showcase ourselves, but we were eager to watch the games and give feedback, and our project was shown outside of it.

In addition to the bag of business cards that Kostya mentioned, we also received many valuable comments on the project which, when we returned to the studio, we would be able to take to work and optimize some of the sharp corners with a file. A particularly memorable moment was when we bumped into one of the winners of our Black Caviar Games Jam held this year, which we realized as we were talking to him. There's a lot of work ahead, which is always after the conference, and we'll definitely get to it as soon as we at least get away from the concentration of events per square meter and all the flying and flying around.
Lerika and the DevGAMM team, thanks for a great event!
We'll be leaving and flying away from you guys again!