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What is Game Connection?

Gamereactor was in attendance at Game Connection Europe 2014 in Paris. But what is it? Let's find out.

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It has been part of the gaming scene since 2001, Game Connection is an international event - set between Paris and San Francisco - which provides an opportunity for professionals in the games industry, in particular new studios or those relatively unknown on the international market, to engage with other professionals, expand their networks, and promote their projects. It's essentially a business-to-business event, where young developers, coming from different parts of the world (Italy, Nordics, UK, Spain, Brazil, the East, and so on), have a chance to show their work, to build up their list of contacts, have more direct interaction with potential publishers, and also relate their experiences to those most troublesome of individuals, games journalists.

In Hall 4 at Porte de Versailles in Paris, we had a chance to touch base with a variety of people, in the process learning about the most promising indie developers emerging on the international scene, finding out about their stories and their work, and understanding what it is like behind the scenes at teams working with few resources, but that are still able to create interesting titles, counting only on their creative abilities and their ability to innovate. From this point of view, Game Connection Europe is a gold mine, largely because it has a more intimate structure than most mainstream events; in fact, the festival offers opportunities to meet with developers in a more relaxed atmosphere.

What is Game Connection?
What is Game Connection?What is Game Connection?
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The more relaxed ambiance - far away from the crowds we usually find at similar events, but still open to consumers - has made it possible for us to chat with some European indie developers (with Interactive Project Forge Reply, Bad Seed, Storm in a Teacup, Kunos Simulazioni and many others) that were in attendance, as well talk with successful outfits such as Gaijin Entertainment (War Thunder), Flying Wild Hog (Shadow Warrior) and Oculus (who let us test a brand new prototype called Crescent day), but we will give you more details on that front in the coming days. So, the most crucial point regarding Game Connection is the clear emphasis on indie development, something that is even more prominent when the show is considered alongside an interesting side event; a competition called Game Connection Europe: Development Awards, presented this year by Vlad Micu from Critical Force Entertainment.

The competition is open to console, mobile, social, casual, and online games at any stage of development, with no restriction on genre, platform, or the game's method of distribution. Each finalist, selected by an expert jury, has the opportunity to present their project to a huge number of potential partners, and possibly even win a prize in one (or more) of ten categories. In addition to the Development Awards, there are also the "European Games Award Booster", created in collaboration with Creative Media Europe, with ten winners across ten different categories. The categories are Originality, Storytelling, Art, Most Promising IP, Console / PC Hardcore, Downloadable Desktop, Mobile Tablets, Casual Games, Game and Hardcore Social Game. You can take a look to this year winners right here.

In addition, Game Connection Europe hosts a decent number of master classes and conferences about video games, an opportunity that allows attendees to open dialogues with professionals from different disciplines within the industry - marketing, developers, creatives, publishers, editors - all with one clear goal in mind: analysing the medium from all possible points of view.

What is Game Connection?
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Our first experience at Game Connection was more interesting than we ever expected. Although it's essentially a B2B show, it was a fantastic opportunity to talk and get in touch with a huge array of development studios - some large and established, others still on the road to success - and a great opportunity to find out more about their ideas, thus opening our eyes to their potential in what is becoming an increasingly densely populated industry. The next event is Game Connection 2015, and it's due to take place a little further afield, in San Francisco, and we certainly hope we'll be able to take part and repeat this wonderful experience.

In the coming days we'll be posting our impressions of the games (both hands-on and hands-off) we saw during the event. So, stay tuned! .



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