Game Developers Meetup #4 Larissa

Opening (both rooms)

Room 1 · From Passion to Profession: A Journey Through Game Art and Development

Arno Schmitz (Guerrilla Games) · Talk

In this talk, Arno traces his path from art hobbyist and student to Technical Art Director at one of the world’s leading AAA studios. He starts with his student years in Breda and follows the road to shipping the Horizon franchise, sharing the lessons, challenges and breakthroughs that shaped his career. Attendees will get practical insights on turning passion into a profession, why adaptability matters and how personal work can become the foundation of a lasting and fulfilling career in games.

Room 2 · Want money to build and release your game? Unf**k your mind! Tangible lessons from a quiet and a loud dude

Christopher Kellner (Astragon), Mehdi Benkirane (Zenith Pirates) · Talk

If you want to make a commercial game, business development isn’t optional, and the sooner you accept that, the better your odds of getting funded. Two speakers, one quiet and one loud, show that you don’t need a particular personality to be good at BD. They’ll share the tangible pitching lessons that matter far more than charisma when you’re asking for money to build and release your game.

Room 1 · A Rift in Niagara: The Art and Process of Real-Time VFX

Giannis Tripolitis (Orphic Studios) · Talk

In his talk, Giannis will discuss the art of making VFX in UE5, outlining the workflows and tools needed to create real-time FX. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of how to start their VFX journey and enter the games industry as VFX artists.

Room 2 · AAA Ambition, Indie Team: Choosing Your First Game in the Age of AI

Kay Gruenwoldt (Magic Fractal) · Talk

Every founder dreams of making the game they grew up loving. In 2026, that dream can cost $300 million and a few hundred developers, which makes it a tough first project.

Kay Gruenwoldt has spent more than 30 years in AAA, mobile and live-service games. He invests in young studios and is now building a new studio of his own, so he has made most of the mistakes already and is happy to share them.

He’ll show why small teams, like the roughly 30 core developers behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, can now beat the giants. He’ll cover how AI tools a team builds and owns, rather than a game prompted out of a chatbot, change what a small studio can make. And he’ll explain how to size a first game you can actually finish.

Expect real insights, honest war stories and a simple framework for getting from indie to AAA, one earned step at a time.

Room 1 · Mastering Boss Fight Design: From Concept to Implementation

Marcin Matuszczyk (Flying Wild Hog) · Talk

Designing memorable and challenging boss fights is both an art and a technical feat. Drawing from my experience working on Horizon Forbidden West, its DLC Burning Shores, and Outriders, I’ll share practical tips, workflows, and real-world insights for designing unforgettable boss encounters by analyzing existing examples. This talk covers common challenges, a reusable design template, a reverse-engineering example from a finished game, and a full walkthrough of creating a new boss fight, complete with implementation progress in Unreal Engine 5.

Room 2 · Product/Market Fit: How to Win the Boss Battle for a Successful Product Launch

Martin Wien (GameFlex) · Talk

Over 19,000 new games were released in 2025, and more than 90% of them failed, most often because of a lack of understanding of product/market fit and specific player needs. The truth is simple: it’s easier to make the right product for the market than to find a market for your product.

This session walks step by step through the questions you should ask at each stage of the life cycle, and how research and data can turn into actionable insights for game design, building a solid foundation for your commercial strategy, go-to-market plan and live service roadmap.

Room 1 · How Platforms Pick Winners

Spiro Kouretas (Hidden Card Labs) · Talk

Mobile platforms give studios access to a global audience, but visibility is never guaranteed. Drawing on his 21 years of experience working at Apple, Spiro Kouretas shares his personal perspective on publicly available platform guidelines, tools and programs, and practical steps studios can take toward a stronger launch.

Room 2 · Publisher Relationships: What They Give and What They Take

Dmitry Martirosyan (Garden Valley Consulting) · Talk

Most indie developers dream of landing a publisher, but few understand what that partnership really involves. This talk breaks down the indie publishing landscape, from pitching and contract negotiation to recoup splits, milestones and creative conflicts. You’ll leave knowing what publishers expect from you, what you should demand in return and when your game is ready to pitch.

Room 1 · The Critical Role of Production

Jason Polansky (Atari) · Talk

After publishing dozens of games with many teams of various sizes around the world, one universal fact I’ve learned is that a developer’s production sense will make or break a game. Learn from actual examples of how strong production leads to successful launches and relationships, while poor production can lead to frustration and cancellations.

Room 2 · The Ultimate Publisher Pitch>

Bobby Wertheim (Kando Factory) · Talk

Having reviewed well over 20,000 game pitches as a game scout, Bobby Wertheim will run through what he believes is the ultimate pitch deck template to secure a publisher for indie developers working on PC/console premium games.

Room 1 · From Coder to Creative Director to Founder: A Journey in Perseverance

Harry Krueger (Cosmic Division) · Talk

How does a game developer become a Creative Director? And what does it take to go one step further and build a studio of their own?

In this presentation, Harry shares his personal journey through the games industry, from his early days as a Gameplay Programmer in Kyoto, to directing the critically acclaimed Returnal and ultimately founding his own independent studio, Cosmic Division.

Along the way, he’ll explore the challenges of growing into leadership, finding and championing your own creative voice, recognizing and seizing opportunities, and learning to let go of perfectionism as your responsibilities grow. He’ll also reflect on what it takes to turn a creative vision into a reality, build a team around it, and pursue ambitious goals without losing sight of what matters most: making the best possible game.

Room 2 · The Long Game: Life After Launch Day

Yannis Lefkaditis (Yodo1), Thomas Lumeau (Fireshine Games), Fernando Fernandez (Firenut Games), Itamar Berner (RibCage Games) · Panel

Launch day is a milestone, not the finish line. Most games earn the bulk of their revenue and their community in the months and years after release. This panel brings together publishers and developers from Yodo1, Fireshine Games, Firenut Games and RibCage Games to talk about what happens after launch: updates and live operations, ports and new platforms, discounts and visibility, and keeping a community engaged. They’ll share what has worked, what hasn’t, and how to plan a game’s long tail before it ships.

Room 1 · Legalese for Game Devs: From Development to Market

Athanasios Leontaris (Ratio Legal Services) · Workshop

A practical workshop on the legal essentials for game developers: intellectual property, collaboration agreements and publishing contracts, with a focus on protecting your work and avoiding common legal pitfalls.

Room 2 · Publishing in China: The Odyssey of Navigating the Dragon’s Realm

Yannis Patras (Whisper Games) · Talk

Is there room for indies in China? What are the challenges and pitfalls, and how can developers (and publishers!) turn the “here be dragons” China into a long-sought Ithaca?

Room 1 · Many Paths, One Story

Manos Kalaitzoglou (Arcweave) · Workshop

Start with “Once upon a time…” and let’s build a branching adventure together. In this playful, hands-on, one-hour workshop, the whole room creates a shared beginning. Then teams take the story in different directions, designing meaningful choices and the consequences that follow.

We’ll bring the branches back together into a handful of endings, exploring practical techniques for branching narrative along the way. Finally, we’ll turn the complete story into a playable online adventure.

Room 2 · Work the Algorithm, Get Discovered: Indie Marketing Best Practices for Small Dev Teams

Konstantinos Noulas (Team17) · Talk

With more games than ever being released every year, it’s essential for small dev teams with limited time and budget for marketing to focus on what will help them cut through the noise and connect with the right audience ahead of launch.

The aim of this talk is to go over some of the key actions that require low or no budget at all with a focus on Steam, including features and metrics that can be used to promote a game ahead of launch, as well as some best practices on social media posting and advertising.

Room 1 · Education and Game Development: Preparing Tomorrow’s Junior Devs

Giorgos Thanos, Head of Animation Department · Konstantinos Ntokos, Coordinator of BSc Games Programming · Konstantinos Vasileiadis, Coordinator of Game Design Certificate (all SAE Athens) · Panel

What does it take to become a game developer today, and how can education prepare people for the challenges of the games industry? Representatives of the Games & Animation departments of SAE Athens come to Game Developers Meetup in Larissa for a conversation about the future of game development and the skills that shape the next generation of creators.

Through the lenses of Animation, Games Programming and Game Design, they’ll explore which hard and soft skills make the difference and how young developers can turn their passion for games into a career. From the first idea to a finished game, success rests on knowledge, collaboration and constant growth. Join the conversation on how we train tomorrow’s game developers and what they need to take the next step in the industry.

Room 2 · One Year Later: Three Greek Studios, Three Roads to Release

Ares Dragonis (Dragonis Games), Aris Tsevrenis (Terahard), Kostas Klimantakis (NoBudgetStudios) · Session

Last year, all three were in Larissa. Since then, one has brought Necrophosis: Full Consciousness to consoles, with a physical PS5 edition and the new Subconsciousness DLC. Another has launched Dunebound Tactics with an international publisher and is already building the next one, Runesmith. The third is preparing his first game, Mechanis Obscura, for Steam. Ares Dragonis (Dragonis Games), Aris Tsevrenis (Terahard) and Kostas Klimantakis (NoBudgetStudios) return to talk about how their studios started, where they’re heading and what advice they have for anyone starting out in the industry.

Room 1 · From Scene to Industry: What Does It Take for Greek Games to Scale?

Alexandros Papatsimpas (AK Group of Companies), Christos Bikos (Iphigames), Renia Papathanasiou (EKKOMED), Kostis Kousoulos (SAE Athens) · Panel

Greek game development has grown fast: more studios, more releases, more international publisher interest. Growth in numbers, though, is not the same as an industry. This panel brings together the people who shape its three engines: public policy, capital and talent. Together they discuss what is missing for Greek studios to grow, get funded and stay in Greece, and what the state, investors and universities need to do differently in the next five years.

Room 2 · Gamedev & European Funding Tools: Creative Europe MEDIA

Alexios Tsakoniatis, Project Manager (Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Greece / EKKOMED) · Talk

Get to know Creative Europe MEDIA and its funding opportunities, supporting a wide range of activities across the audiovisual industry, including video game development! This infosession will provide a brief presentation of the various calls for proposals published annually by Creative Europe MEDIA, essential steps towards submitting an application, as well as a thorough overview of its Video Games & Immersive Content Development call.