The Game Wave Festival which started last year is returning for its second year in a row this year and will take place from November 28-29, 2022. The event will take place in Tallinn, Estonia at the Tallink Spa & Conference Hotel. The complete event will take place over six days however the first three days of the event are dedicated to the game jam and will give everyone a chance to kick back and relax as well.
The very first edition of the Game Wave Festival took place in September 2021, and it is a business, education, and entertainment event for the gaming industry professionals. It was held in Jurmala, Latvia and it attracted participants from over 25 countries. Ints Viksna, Chairman of Board at Latvian Technological center commented:
Game Wave Festival is an expressive way to celebrate glorious game development heritage, culture, and traditions, meet new and old faces, and have fun. It is professional, oriented to have serious business talks, and cozy, to make friends with almost all attendees. I am happy to welcome all of you to the 2nd Game Wave Festival!
The Game Wave Festival is a mainly B2B event and it is designed to give everyone a relaxed and fun time by avoiding the stiffens of traditional events. The Game Wave Festival captures the fun and the relaxation with its laid-back ambiance however it is still a large event that gets an overview of the main tendencies in the Nordic and the Baltic region but yet small enough to make friends with all participants of the event. The event is all about meeting with similar-minded people from all over the world and making new friends.
The schedule of the 2022 edition of the Game Wave Festival event is as follows:
- The Main Event: Conference, workshops, expo, pitching competitions, business meetings, and game jam final presentation.
- The conference and interactive events are divided into 5 tracks: General, Art (visual, audial, haptics), Unreal Engine, XR, and Board Games.
- The online matchmaking platform is available for all participants all 6 days, and the meetings can also be booked on-site. Registered members of the matchmaking will be able to participate both on-site and online.
- GWF uses the B2Match meeting and event management platform that works both on web browsers and mobile devices. This platform also handles video calls and conference streaming, so all functionality needed by the participants is neatly in one place.
- There will be a private Business area for business ticket holders in Tallink’s Fidel Bar with a nice view of the old town.
During the first three days of the event, there will be game jam runs and the theme and diversifiers of the jam will be decided by the sponsors. The game jam continues to run in the background of the remaining three days as well however the final ceremony takes place on the final day of the event. The schedule is kept this way in order to allow teams to improve their games by attending various workshops and even pitching them in and getting feedback in the organizers’ ‘Early stage games mentor pitch’. The program offers three unique game pitching opportunities:
- 1 to 1 board games author and publisher pitch in a private, closed space, where publishers can take their time to test the game and converse with the authors.
- Early-stage mentor pitch for anyone not ready for any other pitches, but still willing to train, test their prototype, and get feedback. Jammers are welcome.
- Nordic Game Discovery Contest Baltic semi-finals where developers from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania can showcase their games to publishers and industry experts and compete for a place in the finals.
The event also hosts three special event parties including:
- The Business Party will be available for organizers, speakers, partners, and business ticket holders only.
- The Pool party will be available for organizers, speakers, partners, business ticket holders only, and pool party ticket holders. There will be access to the pool area, sauna, hot tubs, and a quieter area by the bar.
- The Afterparty will be available for almost everyone (except for student ticket holders). It will feature Marioke, a feast table, and a quieter area for business conversations.
The event also hosts a three-day expo which is of interest to anyone who has a professional or a casual curiosity about various topics related to game companies, art, technology, and education. This time around, the organizers of the Game Wave Festival have collected feedback and will implement various changes and improvements such as having guards at the hall so that the expo participants are not tied down at their booths for 3 days.
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The 2022 edition of the Game Wave Festival will be organized by the Latvian Technology Center. Additional details about the event will be shared in the upcoming days however if you want to register for the event, you can do so from the official website.
