Career & Craft

Events during Career Track

The Career Track will focus on junior game developers to help building the future within the games industry in Sweden.

When? October 3rd, badge pick-up starts at 12:30.
Where?Insikten, Science Park Skövde.

Talks

Talks from top developers within different fields of game development and recruitment.

Portfolio Reviews

Get your portfolio reviewed by game developers within the Sweden Game Arena community.

Career Fair

Get to know some of the local game companies within the Sweden Game Arena community.

Events during Craft Day

The focus on junior game developers continues during Craft Day, with a main focus on game development.

When? October 4th.
Where? Kulturhuset, Skövde.

The Indiecator

Visit the expo for indies, the Indiecator, where teams from all over Sweden showcase their latest games for you to play.

I want to showcase my project!

Talks & Panels

Talks from top developers within different fields of game development.

DONNA Café

Have some coffee and fika, and sit down with like-minded people, network and enjoy some talks.

SpelUtvecklarPub

Meet new and old friends and have a drink during SpelUtvecklarPub at Kårhuset.

Time	Event	Link
From 12:00 to 12:30 Insikten	Badge Pick-Up (Students) Fetch your student badge at Insikten!
From 12:00 to 13:00 Insikten	Portfolio Review: Sign-Up Opens To get your portfolio reviewed you go to the "Portfolio Review - Sign-up Station" and add your name to an empty space on the schedule for the person you'd like to meet. Each person who is reviewing portfolios will have a sign on their table with their name. You can also scan the QR code to submit your portfolio, making it easier for the reviewers to access it when your time slot comes.
From 13:00 to 17:00 Insikten	Career Fair Meet the local game companies Stunlock Studios, FRAME BREAK, Aurora Arts and DoubleMoose in the Career Fair.
From 13:00 to 13:30 Insikten	Career Fair: Company Presentations Companies at the Career Fair presents themselves on stage: Stunlock Studios, FRAME BREAK, Aurora Arts and DoubleMoose.
From 13:00 to 17:00 Insikten	Portfolio Reviews To get your portfolio reviewed you go to the "Portfolio Review - Sign-up Station" and add your name to an empty space on the schedule for the person you'd like to meet. Each person who is reviewing portfolios will have a sign on their table with their name. You can also scan the QR code to submit your portfolio, making it easier for the reviewers to access it when your time slot comes. Each Portfolio Review slot is 20 minutes.
From 13:30 to 14:00 Insikten	Meet Sweden Game Startup The business coaches of the well-renowned startup program within games, Sweden Game Startup, gives an introduction about the program.
From 14:00 to 14:50 Insikten	Ali Farha, Star Stable Entertainment: Starting Your Journey In the Games Industry Discover my personal insights and proven blueprint for breaking into the gaming industry. I’ll share the key steps that helped me, as well as many students and career switchers, successfully break into this filed. Whether you’re just starting or looking to make a switch, this talk will equip you with actionable strategies and practical advice to help you succeed.
From 15:00 to 15:50 Insikten	Panel: Getting Into the Industry A panel with focus on getting into the games industry with Johanna Svärd from Palindrome Interactive and FRAME BREAK, and Jenny Österlund from Game Boost Sweden.
From 16:00 to 16:50 Insikten	Viktor Blomqvist, Stunlock Studios: Creating a Concept Art Portfolio Working as a Concept Artist isn't mainly about being able to draw well: it's about creating appealing ideas. You need to develop your visual library, your sense of believable design and your ability to explain your ideas to create something people will remember. You also need to communicate your ideas to a team of developers so they can materialize your designs. In this talk I will share what I know on how you can create a portfolio that shows you understand what a concept artist does, and hopefully lands you a job in the industry.

Time	Event	Link
From 10:00 to 10:50 Odeon	Otto Kivling, Piktiv: Veteran Pro-Tip: 30 programming tips in 30 minutes In this lightning-fast talk, I will show tips and tricks I've picked up over the years for performance, optimization, debugging, compiling, general programming, and efficient development. The tips and tricks are focused on C++ and development in Visual Studio. They will be both high- and lowlevel, from generic ones to in-depth ones. The goal is for those who attend to nod in recognition of some things and say, "Oh, I didn't know that!" to others.
From 10:00 to 10:50 Valhall	Jonathan Smårs, Iron Gate: Systems of the 10th World This talk will explore the systems behind the procedurally generated world of Valheim, the Viking survival crafting game that was released in early access in 2021 to great success. We'll also discuss how using just the right amount of tools — or 'lagom' — shaped its immersive experience. This talk is primarily for programmers and designers working on small teams creating procedural worlds.
From 10:00 to 17:00 Expo	Indiecator Indiecator is the expo space at Sweden Game Conference, dedicated for indies from all over Sweden to showcase their latest projects. Playtest, talk to the developers and give some feedback!
From 10:00 to 10:50 Freja	Charlotta Bävholm, Sharkmob: Creating AAA Characters Ever wondered how realistic video game characters are made? In this talk, Charlotta will break down how the characters of Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodhunt were created, using the latest workflows within 3D art. The talk is geared towards students and juniors who already have a grasp on basic 3D art, but would like to take their craft to the next level.
From 11:00 to 11:50 Valhall	Arvi Teikari, Hempuli: Development of Baba Is You This presentation will go through the development process of Baba Is You, an award-winning puzzle game, touching on both design and business decisions made along the way, as well as the outcomes of these decisions.
From 11:00 to 11:50 Freja	Panel: Getting Comfortable With the Uncomfortable In this panel, sound designers will discuss the uncomfortable parts of working as hired help in game projects and how you need to adapt to different the clients.
From 11:00 to 11:50 Odeon	Brandt Andrist, Thunderful: Stylized: Picking the Right Art Style for your Game The gaming world is full of beautiful and inspiring visuals, with a wide range of styles and influences. Given what's already out there, it can be a daunting experience to develop an art style for your own game. It goes beyond making beautiful assets - it can influence the narrative tone, player immersion, and overall atmosphere, as well as have far reaching implications about your games success and reception. So, what art style will you choose?
From 12:00 to 12:50 Freja	Filippa Arvidsson, Stunlock Studios: Building Big Worlds with a Small Team: The Importance of Tools In order to create bigger worlds with a small team, it is important to work smarter—not just harder. This talk highlights the importance of tools and a scalable mindset in order to minimize bottlenecks in the pipeline and free up more time to build bigger worlds through 3 case studies from the development of V Rising. It also touches on aspects such as performance, challenges with managing large databases of assets, and the importance of developing tools with feedback from their intended users to reach the best results. Whether you are a programmer, artist or simply interested in building a more efficient pipeline, this talk has something for you!
From 12:00 to 12:50 Odeon	Christoffer Bodegård, Sudden Snail: Please (Don't) Make More Games With Interactive Writing What is interactive writing? In this talk, Christoffer shares what he's learned about writing for games with interactive storytelling, including tips on designing choices and feedback in dialog systems. He also pleads with you to make more games with interactive writing, albeit with a few caveats.
From 12:00 to 12:50 Valhall	Interview with Pounce Light: Tiny Glade An interview with Ana Opara and Tomasz Stachowiak from Pounce Light, the creators of the newly released game Tiny Glade.
From 12:00 to 12:50 DONNA Café	Caterina Blomgren, Linköping University: Interactive Feminism: Exploring Game Mechanics for Change Interview with Caterina Blomgren, who explores how game mechanics can convey feminist principles beyond narrative and character design. She discusses her thesis on embedding feminist ideals into gameplay, challenging industry norms, and promoting inclusivity. Caterina also shares her vision for using game design as a medium for social change.
From 13:00 to 13:50 DONNA Café	Panel: Should You Start a Game Studio? In this panel, the participants will discuss the challenges you might encounter when starting your own game studio and what you should consider before taking the leap.
From 13:00 to 13:50 Odeon	Vile Hartman, Sonigon: Business Tragedy Hardship and Money This talk details my emotional journey of starting a freelance studio, split into 4 chapters. It chronicles the struggles I've gone through, and how an unlikely business partnership pulled me through the aforementioned rough patches. After each chapter the life lessons gained from each stage are summarized and analyzed. An emotional journey of epic proportions with plenty of business, tragedy, hardships and money.
From 13:00 to 13:50 Valhall	Peter Ilves, Stunlock Studios: Through Midnight Shadows to Twilight Dominion The journey of a reawakened vampire, rising from the shadows to seize the throne of darkness. This talk dives into how the gothic vampire theme inspired creative decisions and influenced the system design in the Survival Action RPG game V Rising, offering insight into the process, challenges and solutions when developing the core progression loop.
From 13:00 to 13:50 Freja	Victor Becker, MoonHood: The Art of MoonHood In this talk you will get a close look at how the team of MoonHood goes about creating their strange and gritty art - from sketch, clay to engine! The presentation will begin with a quick introduction of Victor and how the artstyle of Moonhood came to be - an artstyle that has been brewing for a long time. For the remainder of his talk you will get an in debt description of their art process and principles, and hopefully you'll leave the seminar with a newfound itch to create.
From 14:00 to 14:50 Freja	Panel: Automation Tools: When And Why? A panel about tech.
From 14:00 to 14:50 DONNA Café	Workshop with Josephine Baird, Uppsala University: Developing Diverse Game Narratives How do we develop genuinely compelling and diverse game narratives and characters in an environment that can sometimes be more than just a little skeptical of the whole idea? What makes for a compelling and diverse game narrative that doesn’t slip into undesired stereotypes and tropes? How can we develop our medium and our skills as writers by developing compelling diverse game narratives? In this workshop we will be discussing practical approaches to doing just that, developing on notions of considerate and intentional design along with the using, breaking, and playing with trope, mechanics, and conventional game narrative design. We will discuss how to approach sensitive topics, how to and who to talk to when designing diverse narratives outside of your own immediate experience, and how to be creative when approaching and combining inclusive narrative design and practice. This workshop is useful to narrative designers, game designers, and anyone with an interest in diversity in game design.
From 14:00 to 14:50 Valhall	Jessica Sollander, Emelie Fuller and Raunaq Singh Sokhi: The Tetralemmas of Game Making Game making, as many other things, is not always black or white. Most decisions we make affect different elements of the game and the team. Join Game Designer, UI Engineer and Development Director from DICE to learn how we measure things, not in black or white – but not looking in multiple dimensions. This impacts how we set up goals and what “success” looks like from different perspectives. We want to raise the conversation for people to look at decision making in any creative field as multi-faceted and hopefully take that back to their own teams to drive more interesting discussion about what success looks like to their teams.
From 14:00 to 14:50 Odeon	Louise Buller, FRAME BREAK: The Design of Lightyear Frontier: With Additional Topics on Design Skill A sneak peek into the design process of Lightyear Frontier and insights on joining a two-year-old project as Lead Designer. The presentation includes documents and tools that have supported the game's design process. Discover which design skills can help you become a better game designer, along with tips and tricks for overcoming creative blockages and more.
From 15:00 to 15:50 Odeon	Joar Engberg, EA DICE: Unleashing Creativity with Procedural Animation Explore the intersection of art and technology in game development through procedural animation. This talk will delve into how procedural techniques can unlock new creative possibilities, streamline workflows, and tackle complex animation challenges. Attendees will gain insights into innovative problem-solving methods and practical applications that enhance both the artistic and technical aspects of games.
From 15:00 to 15:50 Freja	Oscar Rickett, Glowfish Games: Fail Better: Lessons from the Games That Never Launched In my 12 years in the game industry, I’ve spent six working on projects that never saw the light of day—games that were canceled, shelved, or lost to the tides of development. These weren't just small indie games; they were also titles from major players like EA, Frontier, and Microsoft. These are the stories people often avoid, but hold invaluable lessons. In this talk, we’ll dive into the surprising reasons why games fail, from unforeseen market shifts to internal team challenges. Whether you’re a student just starting or a professional facing your own challenges, this session will offer practical advice, encouragement, and the hard-earned wisdom that comes from learning more from failures than successes. Let’s talk about the untold side of game development and how resilience can be your greatest asset.
From 15:00 to 15:30 DONNA Café	Meet Sweden Game Startup The business coaches of the well-renowned startup program within games, Sweden Game Startup, gives an introduction about the program.
From 15:00 to 15:50 Valhall	Rebecca Falktorp: Becoming a Game Designer - Problem solving and finding the right solutions This talk is primarily targeting students and entries to the industry that are curious about working as or with game designers. It will cover useful tips regarding how to adapt to other departments workflows, how to quickly find confidence in your own capabilities and give a insight into what is expected from you as a game designer in your day-to-day work.
From 16:00 to 16:50 Freja	Panel, Community: Tanking for Game Devs A panel about community with Jeremy Fielding from Stunlock Studios, Mikael Naizi from Coffee Stain Studios and Josefin Berntsson from Iron Gate.
From 16:00 to 16:50 Odeon	Pablo Sorribes Bernhard: The Power of Audio Workflow Tools in Expeditions: Rome In this audio-tech focused talk we’ll cover the systems that sped up the audio implementation for a large turn-based RPG, set in ancient Rome. You will learn how we created the modular combat audio in the game, see the tools and systems we developed to craft lush ambiences for 70+ levels, and get some workflow tips that made it possible to create and implement the audio on time.
From 16:00 to 16:50 Valhall	Panel: Good Games Need Good Art This panel of skilled artists will share their thoughts and best practices for succeeding with your art style. Creating a unique and compelling visual experience is key to making a great game, but the road to success is riddled with challenges and pitfalls. The panel, consisting of artist from game studio, artist from studio and artist from studio, will discuss how to best navigate these challenges and carry the artistic vision all the way to release.
From 17:00 to 17:45 Valhall	Award Ceremony Join us in Valhall for the Sweden Game Conference Award Ceremony, accompanied by our own band "The Multiplayers"! Three awards will be handed out: SAGA, Pitch of the Year and Indiecator of the Year! Also the winners of the Indiecator Bingo will be announced during the ceremony.
From 20:00 to 02:00 Kårhuset	SpelUtvecklarPub Time to wrap up this year's Sweden Game Conference with a SpelUtvecklarPub! Join us at Kårhuset Boulogner (Boulognerstigen 1) for a last networking opportunity over drinks and good company. You will need to bring a PHYSICAL VALID PHOTO ID and your badge (or ticket) with the matching name to enter the venue. You will be denied entrance if you don't.