Few people working in service provider sales have worked as developers. Even fewer external development buyers have worked in sales. This lack of understanding is a significant barrier to success for anyone trying to sell services at XDS. This talk is about bridging that gap. Everyone is welcome, especially those who want to level up their XDS meetings, form stronger developer/service provider relationships, and win more business.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A.

This year external supplier crunch has been brought into sharp focus. It’s undeniable impact on mental and physical health demands our action. However, as a systemic industry issue there are complex challenges for developers and suppliers to overcome.

This session will explore the causes and consequences of external development crunch. With the aim to generate guidance for developing practical steps for change.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A.

Few people working in service provider sales have worked as developers. Even fewer external development buyers have worked in sales. This lack of understanding is a significant barrier to success for anyone trying to sell services at XDS. This talk is about bridging that gap. Everyone is welcome, especially those who want to level up their XDS meetings, form stronger developer/service provider relationships, and win more business.

This is a recorded session and will therefore not include a live Q&A

Join us alongisde Victor Lucas at the Technicolor Mainstage, to kick off the 9th annual External Development Summit (XDS)

As Senior VP and Group GM, Samantha oversees the BioWare, Full Circle, Maxis, and Motive Studios at Electronic Arts, where she and her teams are leading the charge on some of the most beloved game franchises including: The Sims, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Skate, and Star Wars: Squadrons. She is passionate about games having grown up a gamer playing on an Atari 2600 and Commodore 64. Today you can still find her not only playing the latest games, but she’s turned her passion into a career that has launched and steered the creative innovation of some of the great game franchises we enjoy. Please join this fireside chat to hear more about Samantha’s career and outlook on today’s games industry.

This year external supplier crunch has been brought into sharp focus. It’s undeniable impact on mental and physical health demands our action. However, as a systemic industry issue there are complex challenges for developers and suppliers to overcome.

This session will explore the causes and consequences of external development crunch. With the aim to generate guidance for developing practical steps for change.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live 30 min Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

With the growth of our industry in high gear, we continue to see our consumers’ demand for content increase. We have seen the outsource model take off over the last few years, especially during the pandemic. With the need for content now outpacing the capacity of outsource studios, publishers and developers are relegated to expanding their outsource studio networks. The purpose of this discussion is to identify some steps that outsource studios and publishers/developers can take to reach a successful, trust-based relationship in a short amount of time.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Drawing from over 12 years in external development, in this presentation David will cover best practices and topics ranging from: testing, partner selection, team culture and mindset, partner interface, building external and internal teams, observations in external art and engineering and common misnomers about our ecosystem. David will discuss real scenarios of the highs and lows of development and what are key takeaways from those experiences.

For example, what do you do when things go wrong and what should you do when things go right? How do you make good engagements great? The goal of this talk will be to provide a framework that will help empower both groups on the sell and buy side to better understand each other’s needs and encourage leading with empathy resulting in industry leading partnerships.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live 30 min Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

We like to keep you on your toes. What’s in store for you in this session? Thinking outside the box might just be it!

It can be difficult to stand out among all the large vendors in our industry. How do you get noticed? What do development studios want to see? How do you prepare for shows like XDS?

Join us as we discuss the best practices and strategies to use when approaching a large development studio for work or when entering the industry as a new vendor. Hear from both, the vendor and developer side as we discuss our thoughts and experiences. Our goal is to share knowledge and to help young vendors grow in order to keep this industry as healthy as possible.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live 30 min Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a key objective for many Developers, and the question of how we can ensure Service Providers reflect the core values of Developers continues to be a challenging conversation. Join Caroline Calaway and Carla Rylance from EA’s External Development Intelligence Team to dissect the big questions when rolling-out a DE&I strategy, and to gain perspectives on how we can verify a Partners commitments to Diversity whilst remaining Inclusive.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas. (Please select only one of the two time slots)

Join us alongisde Victor Lucas at the Technicolor Mainstage, to kick off the 9th annual External Development Summit (XDS)

As Senior VP and Group GM, Samantha oversees the BioWare, Full Circle, Maxis, and Motive Studios at Electronic Arts, where she and her teams are leading the charge on some of the most beloved game franchises including: The Sims, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Skate, and Star Wars: Squadrons. She is passionate about games having grown up a gamer playing on an Atari 2600 and Commodore 64. Today you can still find her not only playing the latest games, but she’s turned her passion into a career that has launched and steered the creative innovation of some of the great game franchises we enjoy. Please join this fireside chat to hear more about Samantha’s career and outlook on today’s games industry.

Drawing from over 12 years in external development, in this presentation David will cover best practices and topics ranging from: testing, partner selection, team culture and mindset, partner interface, building external and internal teams, observations in external art and engineering and common misnomers about our ecosystem. David will discuss real scenarios of the highs and lows of development and what are key takeaways from those experiences.

For example, what do you do when things go wrong and what should you do when things go right? How do you make good engagements great? The goal of this talk will be to provide a framework that will help empower both groups on the sell and buy side to better understand each other’s needs and encourage leading with empathy resulting in industry leading partnerships.

This is session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A with the audience.

We like to keep you on your toes. What’s in store for you in this session? Thinking outside the box might just be it!

It can be difficult to stand out among all the large vendors in our industry. How do you get noticed? What do development studios want to see? How do you prepare for shows like XDS?

Join us as we discuss the best practices and strategies to use when approaching a large development studio for work or when entering the industry as a new vendor. Hear from both, the vendor and developer side as we discuss our thoughts and experiences. Our goal is to share knowledge and to help young vendors grow in order to keep this industry as healthy as possible.

This is a recorded session and will therefore not include a live Q&A with the audience.

Join us for some casual networking over a steaming hot cup of coffee in the Virtuos Café. Our local barista, Griffin Reichl, will bring you through his process of making the perfect cup of coffee.

Join us alongside Victor Lucas to open the second day of XDS21 Adapt on the Technicolor Mainstage

Matt is Corporate VP at Microsoft and head of Xbox Game Studios, the organization responsible for developing Microsoft games for console, PC and mobile platforms. Matt previously led the global teams responsible for developing Minecraft. He first joined Microsoft in 2010 and helped launch the first-party game portfolio on Windows Phone. He later led internal game development teams and digital publishing on Xbox Live Arcade. A game developer at heart, Matt spends his free time writing software and creating art for personal game projects. He is also an avid aviation photographer, focused on air-to-air aviation photos of vintage warbirds. Hear about this and much more in our fireside chat!

As an owner of a service provider, you may wonder why you have started receiving so many calls from potential buyers, some of whom you have never heard of before. Andrew’s company, Enter Capital, acted as an M&A advisor to Sperasoft and 5518 Studios on transactions with Keywords Studios and Pole To Win respectively. Using up-to-date M&A transaction data and case studies, Andrew will address why publishers, private equity, and IT developers are eyeing acquisitions of external developers and how the consolidation changes the industry, including competition and cost of services. Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live 30 min Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

Using our recent experience with expanding our character diversity on Episode as a starting point, the panel will discuss why diversity will matter for game development for years to come and discuss best practices for both vendors and game teams of how they can better deliver more diverse characters and content.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Breaking the internal stigma of OS and establishing an official External Development Domain is critical in order to attract the expertise necessary to unlock the potential of our external partners. Respawn Entertainment is building a dedicated department and a job family to provide world class support for our teams, and career growth for our people.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

We like to keep you on your toes. What’s in store for you in this session? You might just need to wrack your brain for some answers!

Moderated by Philip Dennison our panelists Kay Arutyunyan, Dan Prigg, Ashley Liu, and Jake DiGennaro will share their thoughts on how to successfully manage cultural change after a merger or acquisition alongside how all parties continues to learn and evolve in the new ecosystem. They’ll explore different integration approaches, team retention & satisfaction, and the importance of a purposeful group culture that defines not only the work environment but also how it informs strategy and impacts business growth.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live 30 min Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

With the growth of our industry in high gear, we continue to see our consumers’ demand for content increase. We have seen the outsource model take off over the last few years, especially during the pandemic. With the need for content now outpacing the capacity of outsource studios, publishers and developers are relegated to expanding their outsource studio networks. The purpose of this discussion is to identify some steps that outsource studios and publishers/developers can take to reach a successful, trust-based relationship in a short amount of time.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Join us alongside Victor Lucas to open the second day of XDS21 Adapt on the Technicolor Mainstage

Matt is Corporate VP at Microsoft and head of Xbox Game Studios, the organization responsible for developing Microsoft games for console, PC and mobile platforms. Matt previously led the global teams responsible for developing Minecraft. He first joined Microsoft in 2010 and helped launch the first-party game portfolio on Windows Phone. He later led internal game development teams and digital publishing on Xbox Live Arcade.

A game developer at heart, Matt spends his free time writing software and creating art for personal game projects. He is also an avid aviation photographer, focused on air-to-air aviation photos of vintage warbirds. Hear about this and much more in our fireside chat!

As an owner of a service provider, you may wonder why you have started receiving so many calls from potential buyers, some of whom you have never heard of before. Andrew’s company, Enter Capital, acted as an M&A advisor to Sperasoft and 5518 Studios on transactions with Keywords Studios and Pole To Win respectively.

Using up-to-date M&A transaction data and case studies, Andrew will address why publishers, private equity, and IT developers are eyeing acquisitions of external developers and how the consolidation changes the industry, including competition and cost of services.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A

We like to keep you on your toes. What’s in store for you in this session? You might just need to wrack your brain for some answers!

Moderated by Philip Dennison our panelists Kay Arutyunyan, Dan Prigg, Ashley Liu, and Jake DiGennaro will share their thoughts on how to successfully manage cultural change after a merger or acquisition alongside how all parties continues to learn and evolve in the new ecosystem. They’ll explore different integration approaches, team retention & satisfaction, and the importance of a purposeful group culture that defines not only the work environment but also how it informs strategy and impacts business growth.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A

Breaking the internal stigma of OS and establishing an official External Development Domain is critical in order to attract the expertise necessary to unlock the potential of our external partners. Respawn Entertainment is building a dedicated department and a job family to provide world class support for our teams, and career growth for our people.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A

If there was an easy solution to solving for crunch, we should have found it by now, right? While we consider ourselves industry experts, the irony is that the more experience and knowledge we have in an area the more difficult it becomes to avoid taking the same approach instead of arriving at something new and out-of-the-box. One way to look at problems and solutions with fresh eyes is to remove our limitations by taking a look from perspectives outside our industry.

In this Table Topic, we’ll take a different approach to talking about crunch by taking on the personas of people, super heroes, and companies that have nothing to do with game development. Beyoncé doesn’t just say girls run the world, she puts her words into action by assembling her own all-female backing band to inspire young girls. In the second half of this exercise, we’ll devise directions based on these fresh ideas that both Service Providers and Developers can take as first steps to inspire change over the next year. After all, if Beyoncé can’t fix crunch, who can?

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Join us alongside Victor Lucas to open the third day of XDS21 Adapt on the Technicolor Mainstage

As the Chief product Officer for Survios, TQ Jefferson defines the product roadmap as the company looks to level up from scrappy startup to developer with legitimate AAA aspiration. This stewardship will encompass all projects currently in development, including those with partners such as AMC and MGM, as well as expanding the company’s vision to new partners and projects.

Jefferson began his career in games at Activision; starting in QA and moving through the ranks into Productions. Then went on to management roles at Pixar, Telltale and Skybound; as well as Executive roles at Marvel, FoxNext, and most recently as a VP in Disney’s Games & Interactive Experiences group. His expertise in franchise expansion covers everything from TV standouts like “Family Guy,” “Archer,” and “The Walking Dead,” to film series such as “Predator,” “Avatar,” and “Alien” to iconic cross media IP such as the Marvel Universe and Pixar. Join this fireside chat to learn more about his facinating career, and industry observations.

When externalizing live operations, transition and/or integration of teams should be done right from start, to mitigate the risks of negative impacts on a live audience. Ubisoft and Manifesto share in this session the framework they have established, best practices – including a no-email communication, and their experience on growing the engineering live ops team of Growtopia!

Although art outsourcing is common in our industry, many studios are still reluctant to work with 3rd party engineers – and even more if both teams (internal and external) should work together in the same code. The bright side is that the long-term relationship of continuous work, with the right tools and processes, should allow teams to overcome challenges.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

A pan-global creative problem solving experiment between Eastern and Western Developers, Publishers and Vendors set in the 25th Century.

This session is part of a developing Cultural Resonance in Outsourcing initiative to address Cultural Resonance between Publishers, Developers and Outsourcing Vendors in creating congruency between the artists and professionals on both sides of the production chain by adapting good emotional intelligence principles to expand cultural understanding competency.

Format – Developers, Publishers, and Outsourcing Professionals must collaborate together to decipher an extraterrestrial message which contains the key to save the planet. Size – A breakout room of 4 -6 people for the purposes of the exercise Timeframe – 10 minute Breakout session collaboration exercise Assignment – each team will be provided a Brainstorm template assignment sheet and will present their final results after the breakout session has concluded.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

For both developers and service providers, a long-running external development partnership is the ideal scenario and a measure of true success. But what does it take to make it work for the long haul?

Moderated by Jen Hernandez of West Studio, Creative Director Tyler West joins Riot Games Senior Artists Theo Aretos, Brian Yam, and Art Outsourcing Manager Hayley Chen-O’Neill for a conversation about their concept art partnership on VALORANT, tracing the history of the collaboration and sharing key insights around what makes this long-term external development relationship successful into the present day.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

We like to keep you on your toes. What will you need in this session? Simply to get up and go!

The number one concern listed on this year’s XDS Insights Report was “scarcity of talent.” This is because of the perfect storm of demand that’s happened in the past 1-2 years. Primarily, the console transition that requires devs to support more hardware platforms (in addition to streaming platforms), and a spike in sales performance during COVID, driving devs to deliver more content than ever before, including new/iterative titles and LiveOps. And, as always, there’s a desire to minimize cost of production. The impact is far-reaching; our QA teams are reporting higher than average bugs across the board as the development process is rushed to deliver new content.

All of this has dramatically increased demand for services beyond anything we’ve experienced. The demand has, in turn, created a scarcity of talent for service providers, meaning we are clearly going through a seller’s-market period. This is all to say that ‘attrition’ on the side of a service provider has a significant impact on quality and efficiency, and therefore, a negative impact on the client project.

PTW will host a discussion around this topic aimed at all attendees who are feeling the impact of attrition on their business or engagements, and would like to share insights or seek solutions.

Note for Participants: Please be aware that there will be attendees viewing this session as you contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Enjoy your choice of wine with us during a virtual happy hour with wine connoisseur, Andrea Vescovi, who will teach you how to make the most of wine tasting.

Andrea will also be available for a live Q&A session following the happy hour, so come prepared with your most fruit-forward questions!

Join us alongside Victor Lucas to open the third day of XDS21 Adapt on the Technicolor Mainstage

As the Chief product Officer for Survios, TQ Jefferson defines the product roadmap as the company looks to level up from scrappy startup to developer with legitimate AAA aspiration. This stewardship will encompass all projects currently in development, including those with partners such as AMC and MGM, as well as expanding the company’s vision to new partners and projects.

Jefferson began his career in games at Activision; starting in QA and moving through the ranks into Productions. Then went on to management roles at Pixar, Telltale and Skybound; as well as Executive roles at Marvel, FoxNext, and most recently as a VP in Disney’s Games & Interactive Experiences group. His expertise in franchise expansion covers everything from TV standouts like “Family Guy,” “Archer,” and “The Walking Dead,” to film series such as “Predator,” “Avatar,” and “Alien” to iconic cross media IP such as the Marvel Universe and Pixar. Join this fireside chat to learn more about his fascinating career, and industry observations.

When externalizing live operations, transition and/or integration of teams should be done right from start, to mitigate the risks of negative impacts on a live audience. Ubisoft and Manifesto share in this session the framework they have established, best practices – including a no-email communication, and their experience on growing the engineering live ops team of Growtopia!

Although art outsourcing is common in our industry, many studios are still reluctant to work with 3rd party engineers – and even more if both teams (internal and external) should work together in the same code. The bright side is that the long-term relationship of continuous work, with the right tools and processes, should allow teams to overcome challenges.

We like to keep your on your toes. What will you need in this session? Simply to get up and go!

For both developers and service providers, a long-running external development partnership is the ideal scenario and a measure of true success. But what does it take to make it work for the long haul?

Moderated by Jen Hernandez of West Studio, Creative Director Tyler West joins Riot Games Senior Artists Theo Aretos, Brian Yam, and Art Outsourcing Manager Hayley Chen-O’Neill for a conversation about their concept art partnership on VALORANT, tracing the history of the collaboration and sharing key insights around what makes this long-term external development relationship successful into the present day.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A

While it may be said that the client is king, true leadership involves setting teams up for success by enabling them to perform without having to face needless obstacles. Developers may inadvertently hinder their external partners through inefficient communication and processes, while making infeasible demands and setting unrealistic standards. This can result in partners delivering less than their true potential in delivery time, cost and quality.

A publisher has invited several panellists to the stage, representing companies providing a variety of services, each with a unique cultural background, focus, scope and perspective. She will ask them to share best practices that she, and other publishers & developers, can engage in to improve the seller-buyer relationship from RFP to sign off, to support their partners in delivering their best work effectively, efficiently, healthily and sustainably.

This session is recorded and will therefore not include a live Q&A

Join us alongside Victor Lucas to open the fourth day of XDS21 Adapt on the Technicolor Mainstage

Dave Anthony is best known for his pioneering work on the blockbuster Call of Duty video game franchise. He was the Game Director and writer of Black Ops 1 & 2, respectively the #2 and #3 best selling games of the last decade. In 2020 he co-founded Deviation Games with Call of Duty: Zombies Game Director and lifelong friend Jason Blundell. Their mission: to create a world class AAA studio with an inclusive environment and a culture where ego is put aside and the best idea always wins. Join this fireside chat to hear “war” stories, as well as Dave’s thoughts on building a world-class AAA studio.

While it may be said that the client is king, true leadership involves setting teams up for success by enabling them to perform without having to face needless obstacles. Developers may inadvertently hinder their external partners through inefficient communication and processes, while making infeasible demands and setting unrealistic standards. This can result in partners delivering less than their true potential in delivery time, cost and quality.

A publisher has invited several panellists to the stage, representing companies providing a variety of services, each with a unique cultural background, focus, scope and perspective. She will ask them to share best practices that she, and other publishers & developers, can engage in to improve the seller-buyer relationship from RFP to sign off, to support their partners in delivering their best work effectively, efficiently, healthily and sustainably.

Please note that the first 30 min will be a presentation followed by a live Q&A. We encourage audience questions and participation!

Join us for the XDS Wrap Show & Awards, presented by Airship Images! Enjoy some entertainment while reminiscing on the past four days at XDS. This is the perfect opportunity to say farewell, and find out who will go home with one of the XDS21 Adapt Gary awards!