Pocket Gamer Connects Digital is back, and this time it’s taking over our annual Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki show! Following the success of Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #1 and #2, we thought what better way in this current time to keep our industry-leading Pocket Gamer Connects Digital show on, than by taking it online. Oh, and of course, that means our digital Big Indie Pitch is back too.

For those not in the know, Pocket Gamer Connects Digital is a virtual conference for the games industry, from the makers of PG Connects! Networking is an essential part of the games business, but 2020 is not unfolding as expected. Big conferences like GDC have been postponed, and folk are unable to travel quite as freely. So in our continuing mission to serve the games industry, we’ve come up with what we believe is an answer (at least temporarily) in the form of PG Connects Digital. Sitting alongside our live events, September 14th-18th sees the return of our completely online-only event, this time as a takeover of our extremely popular annual Helsinki edition of Pocket Gamer Connects.

We’re working hard to once again distil as much of the content and spirit as we can from the traditional PG Connects events. That means expert talks and panels, the Meet to Match digital meeting system (with built-in audio/video conferencing) so you can connect with over 1500 attendees, and of course digital versions of fringe events like the Big Indie Pitch! We’re not going to pretend this will have ALL the benefits of a regular conference. There are no free drinks for a start, and no booths to wander. But we’ve been refining the process all year, and we’re looking forward to once again helping everyone to stay connected, do business and have fun through these challenging times.

An all-digital Big Indie Pitch, then! We’ve done a fair few throughout 2020 now, and we’re confident that much like the physical pitches, our digital offerings continue to offer shortlisted developers a chance to impress some of the best experts the industry has to offer (including journalists publishers, investors, and notable indies), answer questions and gather expert insight on their game. Just this time it’s without leaving your home or office…

The unique speed dating format gives each developer four minutes with each panel of experts, meaning entrants will get real feedback from the event. The winner will also get editorial coverage in Pocket Gamer, AppSpy and beyond, making this a great chance to get you, your studio and your game played by the world, alongside potentially winning one of our brand new bespoke Indie packages that can be used to promote and market your game across Steel Media’s portfolio of sites and events.

What? How? Who?

How it’ll work couldn’t be simpler. We’re inviting indie developers of all shapes and sizes along in order to pitch their games to our teams of tame journalists.

Approximately 20 teams will run the gauntlet, giving their all in quickfire 4-5 minute pitches to demonstrate that their title is worth of the Big Indie Pitch crown and coverage in the games media.

Judges

• Simon Prytherch – Kwalee
• Jake Parker – Kwalee
• John Peterson – Jam City
• Danielle Cohen – SuperSonic
• Shelley Aviner – SuperSonic
• Trevor Stricker – Mightier
• Oscar Clark – Fundamentally Games
• Martine Spaans – Tamalaki / FGL
• Stephen Lee – DECA Games
• Carlos Estigarribia – RightZero Consulting / Lockwood Publishing
• Juan Castaneda – Studio Bando
• Alexey Izvalov – Airraport / Global Game Ja
• Plus a representative from Plug-In Digital/Dear Villagers

Be a part of it

If you fancy the chance of winning the Big Indie Pitch, getting signed up couldn’t be easier.

The basic criteria:

• You can pitch games for Mobile, VR, AR
• You can pitch your game even if you’ve pitched it at a previous BIP
• We prefer to see unreleased games, though we’re happy to see games that are out too

Here is also a link to a helpful information pack about the BIP…