Gamecity Hamburg is setting sail with the premiere edition of Portside Game Assembly – a dedicated B2B conference for international indie game leaders – taking place aboard a ship cruising Hamburg’s famous harbour on June 27. With a carefully curated program of keynotes, impulse talks, and roundtables, the conference offers a rare opportunity for studio directors and decision makers to connect in a focused and collaborative setting. Designed to spark fresh perspectives and actionable insights, the event brings together voices from acclaimed indie studios worldwide like Benjamin Laulan (COO & Co-Founder Evil Empire), Philomena Schwab (Founder Stray Fawn Studio), Søren Lundgaard (CEO Ghost Ship Games), Mauricio García (Studio Director The Game Kitchen), Kevin Zuhn (Creative Director & Co-Founder Young Horses Inc.), and more speakers. Tickets for the full conference experience, including a Networking Brunch and the Games Industry Party, are available at portsideassembly.com.

As the premiere of the Portside Game Assembly on June 27 is approaching, the laser-focused program for indie game leaders takes shape.

Keynotes, impulse talks and roundtables: This is the program

By offering a confidential setting for studio directors, the Portside provides value through relevant conversations and strategic networking, which is also reflected in the diverse yet focused conference program. These are some of the program highlights:

• Keynote: Benjamin Laulan (COO & Co-Founder Evil Empire): The “Triple-i Initiative Deep Dive” keynote on how to create your own announcement space and talk directly to your audience when you can’t really relate to other existing showcases.

Impulse Blocks:Impulse Blocks consist of two to three impulse talks, all of which relate to an overarching topic, followed by an open discussion about the perspectives shown and an opportunity for participants to share their own experiences. The discussions will be moderated by Mariève Beauchemin (Programs Director & Co-Founder Indie Asylum) and Andreas Suika (Creative Director & Game Designer).

• Mining for Your Next Gem – How to Decide which Games to Develop

A defining and crucial decision for every indie game studio is: what of the (probably many) game ideas should be pursued? Where should studios allocate their resources – and what game will help a studio prevail? Three speakers will share their approaches to these questions in 10-minute impulse talks:

• • Philomena Schwab (Founder Stray Fawn Studio): Game Idea Validation
  • Jonas Tyroller (Founder Grizzly Games): You Don’t Need a Hook
  • René Habermann (Director bippinbits): Don’t Ship the Wrong Game

• Games Are Made by People – How to Foster a Good Company Culture

Founding and maintaining an independent game studio and managing a small to mid-size team comes with a lot of responsibility: from growing or having to downsize a team to maintaining a company culture where talent is nurtured, developed, and kept long-term.

• • Mauricio García (Studio Director The Game Kitchen): Keeping the Indie Mindset while Going Big
  • Kevin Zuhn (Creative Director & Co-Founder Young Horses Inc.): Hold Your Horses: Why Slow is How We Grow

• From Dev to Dev – Why to Invest in Other Studios

More and more indie studios take the leap to market not only their own games but also put their resources and experiences on games from other developers. Two speakers will share their motivations and learnings from investing in games and studios that are not their own:

• • Søren Lundgaard (CEO Ghost Ship Publishing): Developer by Day, Publisher by Night
  • Christian Nyhus Andreasen (COO Fair Games): How to Lose 50% and Still Prosper – Angel Investment Lifestyle

Roundtables:

Roundtables have a more interactive concept than impulse blocks and encourage participants to discuss all aspects of the overarching question from the very beginning

• Roundtable 1: Mobile Ports – When, Why & How? Moderated by Ali Farha (Senior Producer Star Stable Entertainment)
• Roundtable 2: Stronger Together – Business Cooperations Between Indies. Moderated by Manny Hachey (Creative Director Positive Impact Games)
• Roundtable 3: (Self-)Publishing – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly. Moderated by Sophie Atkin (Director & Founder Secret Sauce)
• Roundtable 4: Longtail FTW – How to Make the Most out of Your Game. Moderated by Leonie Wolf (Associate Art Director Maschinen-Mensch)

The Portside Game Assembly website offers a detailed view on speakers, program topics and participating studios: https://portsideassembly.com/program/

The premiere of the Portside Game Assembly is supported by these great sponsors and partners: Photon and Twin Harbour Interactive!

Selection of already confirmed participants:

More than 60 studios from over 15 countries have already registered for the Portside Game Assembly conference on board the MS Princess. Besides already announced participants like Evil Empire, Stray Fawn Studio, The Game Kitchen, Toukana Interactive, Ghostship Publishing, and others, further acclaimed studios join the conference:

• Digital Sun (Moonlighter, Cataclismo) / Spain
• Keen Games (Enshrouded) / Germany
• Young Horses Inc. (Bugsnax, Octodad) / USA
• Gamious (Lake, Turmoil) / Netherlands
• Color Gray Games (The Case of the Golden Idol) / Latvia
• Massive Damage (Star Renegades) / Canada
• Beam NG (BeamNG.drive) / Germany

Further participating studios can be found on the Portside Game Assembly.

Digicode is pleased to announce that Itai Zak, Executive Director of iGaming at Digicode, will participate as a speaker at the highly anticipated NEXT.io Summit in Valletta 2025, taking place from May 5 to 8.

Itai Zak will contribute to the panel discussion titled “Blood or Business?”, part of the summit’s dedicated Personal Development Hub, which focuses on leadership, mental wellbeing, and workplace culture across the iGaming industry.

Moderated by Emily Leeb, CEO of Saroca, the panel will address the complexities of professional relationships within the sector, examining how genuine leadership can foster healthy environments while maintaining essential boundaries. Zak will be joined by other prominent industry figures, including Peter Grech (CEO & Founder, BRND WGN), Claire Adamou (VP of Development, Saroca), and Fiona Ewins Brown (Executive Coach, Mondial Coaching).

Itai Zak will share insights into how evolving leadership styles can shape a safer, more sustainable industry, while promoting genuine care without compromising professionalism.

“The iGaming industry moves quickly, and leadership needs to keep pace – not just with innovation, but also with how we support our people. It’s time for real conversations about what a healthy, high-performing workplace looks like. I’m excited to be part of this important discussion at NEXT.io”, Zak added.

This year’s NEXT.io Summit is expected to attract over 6,000 participants, making it one of the largest and most impactful events on the global iGaming calendar. The event will feature open discussions, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities, bringing together the industry’s top minds to tackle its most pressing challenges.

Digicode’s involvement in the summit underlines the company’s commitment to industry leadership, innovation, and the advancement of positive workplace practices.