Milan, Italy - July 3, 2020: Having previously announced its transition to digital for the 2020 edition, the Italian Interactive Digital Entertainment Association (IIDEA), today lifts the lid on what attendees can expect from the second annual First Playable - Italy’s leading international B2B gaming event. IIDEA is also delighted to announce that Epic Games’ Unreal Engine will be the Platinum Sponsor for the show when it takes place in July.
With major publishers like Electronic Arts, Xbox, Nintendo of Europe, SEGA, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Square Enix, and Ubisoft all confirmed to be in attendance, First Playable will run online for two days between 15 and 16 July 2020 and will also include post mortem talks from games as diverse as Open Lab’s Football Drama, Close to the Sun from Storm in a Teacup and TORI by Xplored (full list below), plus the Nintendo Italia Indie World Summit and the Italian Video Game Awards.
The first day of Italy’s premier B2B digital summit for the sector also comprises the Nintendo Italia Indie World Summit, which will explore the theme of cinematic video games, using case studies, leanings and anecdotes from GhostShark Games (Still There), LKA (The Town of Light, Martha is Dead) and Stormind Games (Remothered: Tormented Fathers, Remothered: Broken Porcelain).
First Playable will also be the home for the eighth annual Italian Video Game Awards on the evening of Wednesday 15th July at 8pm BST / 9pm CET. The event will be streamed online via IIDEA’s website and their Facebook and YouTube channels, and will be presented by the British hosting duo, Julia Hardy and Aoife Wilson. Today IIDEA are also excited to share the nominees 2020’s Awards for the first time.
These are:
Best Debut Game
-
Daymare: 1998 (Invader Studios)
-
Football Drama (Open Lab)
-
Dry Drowning (Studio V)
Best Innovation
-
Football Drama (Open Lab)
-
MotoGP19 (Milestone)
-
Pride Run (IV Productions)
-
Secret Oops! (MixedBag)
-
Still There (GhostShark Games)
Best Italian Game
-
Assetto Corsa Competizione (Kunos Simulazioni)
-
Close to the Sun (Storm in a Teacup)
-
Daymare: 1998 (Invader Studios)
-
Super Cane Magic ZERO (Studio Evil)
-
The Suicide of Rachel Foster (One O One Games)
Awards for Outstanding Individual Contribution and Outstanding Italian Company will also be given out during the evening’s showcase.
Both First Playable 2020 and the IVGAs will serve as a showcase for the Italian video games industry, both highlighting the learnings of the country’s leading studios and acting as a bridge to their peers across Europe and, indeed, the wider world.
Thalita Malagò, General Secretary at IIDEA adds, “Though transitioning First Playable to a digital event for its second run was always going to be a challenge, we’re really excited about the people we’ve pulled together and we can’t wait to see the connections people make this time around, just as they did in Pisa in 2019.”
IIDEA have partnered with MeetToMatch to produce the event, and the Toscana Film Commission to bring the flavour, look and feel of the world-famous Italian region to the event’s audience via the power of digital technology.
Stefania Ippoliti, Director of the Toscana Film Commission commented, “With less than a month to go until the second edition of First Playable in Pisa, we look forward to welcoming Italian game developers, International game publishers and investors for an exciting two days of dialogue, experience sharing and business. Tuscany is online and waiting to welcome you!"
IIDEA are also delighted to add that prior to First Playable, attendees can sign up for coaching sessions with professionals from across Italy to help attendees prepare for the show and ensure maximum success for the Italian development community.
The confirmed coaches are:
-
Antonio Farina - Founder of Milestone, CEO at Reludo, and CEO at Rortos with more than 30 years of experience in the industry.
-
Gian Paolo Vernocchi - CEO & Creative Director at DESTINYbit, with more than 12 years of experience in the industry.
-
Lorenzo Grimaldi - Developer Relations at Nvidia. Grimaldi was previously the head of PlayStation's Strategic Content and has worked with hundreds of developers and, with the support of his team, signed and delivered over 120 games.
-
Marco Colombo - Head of Development at Pixion Games, a London startup which was recently founded with a seed round of $2 million.
-
Mauro Fanelli - CEO & Creative Director at MixedBag, with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. He founded one of the first online games magazines in Italy and, in 2013, he also founded MixedBag studio.
The IVGAs 2020 will be streamed across IIDEA’s YouTube and Facebook accounts allowing for the widest possible audience. Live audience participation will be encouraged on the night by the event’s hosts using the hashtags #IVGA2020 and #FirstPlayable.
For more information please visit the IIDEA website at www.iideassociation.com.
//
For more information, please contact:
Stefano Petrullo – Renaissance PR
Stefano@renaissancepr.biz +44 (0) 7828 692 315
Emily Britt - Renaissance PR
Emily@renaissancepr.biz +44 (0) 7530 081 191
Keith Andrew - Renaissance PR
Keith@renaissancepr.biz +44 (0) 7834 237 322
- ENDS -
FULL LIST OF POSTMORTEM TALKS
34BigThings | Post-mortem about Redout: Space Assault
GhostShark Games | Post-mortem about Still There
Invader Studios | Post-mortem about Daymare: 1998
MixedBag | Post-mortem about Secret Oops!
Open Lab | Post-mortem about Football Drama
Storm in a Teacup | Post-mortem about Close to the Sun
Strelka Games | Post-mortem about Circle of Sumo
Xplored | Post-mortem about TORI
ABOUT IIDEA
We are the Association representing the video games industry in Italy. We give voice to our members on common sector-wide issues. We work to promote Italian companies abroad and to facilitate the access to the Italian market for multinational companies. We carry out a number of initiatives to amplify the value of the video games sector for economy, society, culture and education. Among them: Games Industry Day, annual forum between industry and public institutions to discuss about the present and the future of the sector in Italy; First Playable, the first international business event dedicated to indie developers in Italy, Round One, the first international business event dedicated to esports in Italy, Italian Video Games Awards, the celebration of video games and esports. Internationally, we are proud members of ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe). We are an agile, slender and results-oriented Association. Our line of work is very pragmatic and based on the constant involvement of our members in order to ensure that our action keeps abreast of the industry steady evolution. Our members are at the heart of any choice or action carried out by the Association.
ABOUT TOSCANA FILM COMMISSION AND MANIFATTURE DIGITALI CINEMA
Toscana Film Commission supports and assists all production companies interested in shooting in Tuscany and offers highly skilled producing assistance for international production:
-
Welcome & general information about technical issues and logistics Assistance in obtaining shooting permits
-
Database of audiovisual companies and professionals
-
Database of locations & photoscouting
-
Special fares for accommodation and catering
-
New space studios for productions in Tuscany
Manifatture Digitali Cinema (MDC), provides: offices spaces, casting areas, makeup rooms and facilities, hairdressing and costume rooms, projection halls and theaters. Highly specialized courses in cinema and audiovisual professions: the textile and sartorial tradition of Prato and the new technologies of Pisa at the service of audiovisual industry of the future.
www.manifatturedigitalicinema.it
ABOUT MeetToMatch
MeetToMatch is the most used event networking service in the international games industry working on 22 game events in 2019 globally. For over ten years, the company ensures that people are meeting by choice rather than chance, enabling game developers to meet publishers, investors are other companies to do business and exchange knowledge. Since early 2019, the MeetToMatch service is also successfully used for online events in the games industry and beyond. This enables everyone globally to make connections by choice from the comfort of home, while removing travel costs and reducing carbon footprint. For additional information, visit https://www.meettomatch.com/
ABOUT the IVGA Presenters
Julia Hardy: Julia is one of the most renowned and respected hosts in the world of video games, as well as an accomplished live host covering music and entertainment content. Everyone from the BBC to BAFTA, Xbox to PlayStation – all trust her to bring their content to gamers from across the globe. She has also worked for 4Music, Channel 5, BBC 3, Bravo, Challenge TV, BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 4 Radio 5 Live, BAFTA, Vice, The Guardian, The Mirror, Very.co.uk, Xbox, Playstation, Eurogamer, Front, SBTV. In 2020 her new podcast series This Game Changed My Life launches for BBC Sounds.
Aoife Wilson: Aoife Wilson is a writer, presenter and streamer, and is currently Head of Video at Eurogamer where the team's daily video content is published to a growing audience of 650,000 YouTube subscribers. Voted one of the most influential women in the UK Games industry, she also regularly hosts events for BAFTA Games and contributes to outlets like BBC Radio 1, Channel 4, CBBC, Giff Gaff, BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, CNBC, Sky Atlantic, Buzzfeed and RTÉ, and is co-host of the BBC Sounds podcast, This Game Changed My Life.
ABOUT EPIC GAMES’ UNREAL ENGINE
Epic Games’ Unreal Engine is the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D tool. Creators across games, film, television, architecture, automotive and transportation, advertising, live events, and training and simulation choose Unreal to deliver cutting-edge content, interactive experiences, and immersive virtual worlds. Follow @UnrealEngine and download Unreal for free at unrealengine.com.