>>> Developers from Amazon Games, Hazelight, Ubisoft and Funcom will take the Dev.Play stage
Bucharest, March 10, 2025 – RBJ – Dev.Play, the Romanian and Eastern European video game developers’ conference, returns to Bucharest on June 2 and 3, 2025 for its 10th anniversary edition. The event brings speakers and companies representing big names in the local and international industry to game developers from the region. The event will take place at the Novotel Hotel, located in the center of Bucharest, and access can be gained by registering on www.dev-play.ro.
The Dev.Play anniversary edition will facilitate business meetings between regional and international companies. A new important element of the event will be the promotion of the talent and the quality of external development services offered by companies from Romania and Eastern Europe. With more than 200 development studios and 6600 active specialists in the industry, Romania has established itself over the years as an important hub on the global gaming map, and local studios providing external development services, be it programming, art and animation, or QA and localization, have made a name for themselves on a global level. In order to support and promote this part of the industry, Dev.Play is introducing a dedicated segment for service providers and offering them the opportunity to meet representatives from international studios and publishers interested in these solutions who will be present at the event. Also, similar to previous years, independent studios from the region will have the opportunity to meet potential investors or publishers.
Therefore, some of the companies that have already announced their presence at the event and which could represent opportunities for local companies include Amazon Games, Ubisoft, Gameloft, Sharkmob, Powell Group, Humble Games, Bright Gambit, Rocket Ride Games, with more to be announced in the near future.
“Dev.Play has been, from the beginning, a platform dedicated to developers in Romania and Eastern Europe, and for this 10th anniversary edition we aim to carry this mission further. In addition to the networking and learning opportunities for independent studios, this year we focus on promoting talent and external development services from the region, connecting local studios with relevant international partners. Eastern Europe is already an increasingly important hub in the global game development industry, and Dev.Play is a place where this progress can turn into new opportunities for collaboration and growth,” stated Cătălin Butnariu, Dev.Play organizer.
Dev.Play will take place over two days, with each day having a distinct focus. The first day is dedicated to indie game development, with themed sessions called Indie War Stories, where developers will share lessons and challenges from their time creating games, and Indie Funding, a key section with practical presentations for studios looking for funding.
The second day is dedicated to discussions around AAA game development and External Development, with a lot of valuable insights and experiences from the development of big-budget games, which also involve collaboration between development studios and external partners.
The Dev.Play stage will be attended by important names from the video game development industry both from our country and from all over the world.
Philip Martin, born and raised in Sweden to Romanian parents, started his career in the Swedish film and television industry at a young age. In 2016, he used this experience in game development at Hazelight, working on A Way Out as Junior Cinematic Artist and motion capture actor. After the success of It Takes Two, he joined Hangar 13 studio in Brno as Cinematic Lead, contributing to several projects, including two unannounced AAA titles, Mafia: The Old Country and TopSpin. Having moved back to Stockholm, he also rejoined Hazelight, where he is now working as Senior Cinematic Editor on the long-awaited Split Fiction game.
Phil Knowles is the Co-Dev and Outsource Lead for Amazon Games. He has over 30 years of game development experience as a Content Creator, Art Director and Program Manager. Phil guides the strategy and implementation of external development across Amazon Games, supporting all development teams, disciplines and central groups. He manages partner relationships, and builds the systems and processes that lead to successful outcomes.
Fawzi Mesmar, Creative Director at Ubisoft, returns to DevPlay as a special guest. Fawzi has worked at several AAA game dev companies such as DICE, King, Atlus and Gameloft. As a Game Designer, he has helped develop over 20 titles that have been enjoyed by millions of gamers worldwide, including games from the Mario Rabbids, Battlefield and Star Wars franchises.
The Dev.Play will also host the Indie Festival, a gaming marathon where video game enthusiasts will be able to watch live gameplay from the best indie games developed in Eastern Europe that are about to be released or have been released in the previous year. The show will be presented by professional content creators and can be watched worldwide live on their streaming channels and also on Steam.
Throughout its 10 years of existence, Dev.Play has brought together some of the biggest names in the global video games industry. Renowned guests have included UK industry veteran and Games Workshop co-founder Ian Livingstone, Mike Laidlaw, the iconic figure behind BioWare’s Dragon Age and Mass Effect series Dragon Age, Candace Thomas from Blizzard Entertainment and Sebastian Kalemba, game director at CD Projekt Red, the studio known for iconic titles such as The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077.
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Dev.Play is an annual conference in Bucharest, organized by the Romanian Game Developers Association (RGDA). Dev.Play is the only major game developers’ conference taking place in Romania. Dev.Play’s mission is to promote the game development industry in Romania and Eastern Europe, both locally and internationally, and to give its participants the opportunity to connect with other industry professionals.
