The Portside Game Assembly 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. For the full speaker line-up and program details visit the official Portside Game Assembly website and grab your ticket to meet the conference guests at Networking Brunch and the Games Industry Party in the evening.

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

Portside Game Assembly - Conference Program

Keynote by 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.

• 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 Gam

• 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 website. https://portsideassembly.com/attendees  

Ticket for Networking Brunch and Games Industry Party available

The Networking Brunch starts on June 27, 2025, at 9:30 am at the “Alte Liebe” restaurant in Hamburg's HafenCity. A ticket costs 49 euros plus fees & VAT and the number of tickets is limited. Here, conference participants and brunch guests can exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere and over delicious food.

Tickets for the Networking Brunch are available here: Brunch Tickets

The Games Industry Party in the evening invites guests to the second extraordinary ship location of the day: the MS Stubnitz in HafenCity. Starting at 7 pm, all conference guests can celebrate the evening with Hamburg's vibrant games scene. Tickets are available now for 15 euros plus fees & VAT.

Games Industry Party tickets are available here: Party Tickets

If you are interested in the Networking Brunch and the Games Industry Party, you can purchase a discounted combined ticket for both events: Combined Ticket