Student Video Games and Expert Talks: Highlights of First ITMO.GameDev Day

ITMO.GameDev Day is a conference organized by the university’s Game Development School in collaboration with major companies in the field: VK Play, VK Education, Lesta Games, Nau Engine, Interactive Visualization Lab, and Astrum Ent. The event was open to anyone – those wishing to attend just needed to register online in advance. 

At talks by invited speakers, visitors learned about management in gamedev, game production, and attracting investments. Among the topics discussed were also the technical capacities of interactive sound, game engines, and AI in games. Recorded talks (in Russian) are available here.

The event also featured a showcase, where students of Russian universities presented video and board games of their creation – and received feedback from avid gamers and professional developers.

“In recent years, with the closing of White Nights and DevGAMM conferences, we’ve seen a lack of in-person gamedev events in Russia. That’s why we wanted to create something like that in St. Petersburg and at ITMO. Here, students get the opportunity to chat with like-minded people, who they would have unlikely met in different circumstances. From among over 400 attendees of our event, there are both gamedev enthusiasts and leading specialists from VK Play, VK Education, Lesta Games, Nau Engine, and other companies. They all shared their knowledge and experience in their talks, offered feedback on students’ projects, and possibly even noted the most promising games and future experts,” shared Andrey Karsakov, the head of ITMO’s Game Development School.

Lesta Games is one of the companies happy to welcome ITMO graduates. According to the company’s PR manager Alexandra Stepina, their major projects, including World of Tanks, World of Warships, and Tanks Blitz, are always on the lookout for talents.

“We often have interns and junior specialists from ITMO in different fields such as stack-oriented programming or 3D art, while the university’s graduates, like Danila Lychkin, head entire departments. At Lesta Games, we believe it important to invent not only in our own development, but in the gamedev industry as a whole. That’s why at professional events like ITMO.GameDev Day, we are happy to share our expertise with fledgling developers and talk about projects that can help them on their path, like Lesta Games Start and Lesta Games Academy. We motivate students to keep growing,” said Alexandra Stepina.

At the event, visitors had the opportunity to explore almost any world. With the board game Get Your Diploma, players completed the path of a student, while the game Student’s Dilemma caused lively discussions on which character trait will be more beneficial in various situations. For instance, what would you do if your friend asked you to take part in a student play? Meanwhile, the video games on offer took players to battlefields, monster fights, and on journeys in space, as well as offered puzzles galore.

“We were curious to talk to beginners who have yet to acquire their professional views on gamedev – there might be true gems among these talents. At the event, we’ve noted several interesting projects that could benefit primarily from knowledge. VK Play and VK Education are actively promoting gamedev education in Russia, and ITMO is one of the flagship universities in this respect. We’ve made a game design course for the Game Development Technologies Master’s program; and this year ITMO will be among the first to explore VK Play’s brand-new product. If we continue developing educational initiatives at this pace, we will truly support the gamedev market in the next 5-10 years,” added Alexey Drokonov, a manager for educational projects at VK Play.

Not only projects by St. Petersburg-based students were featured in the showcase: for instance, visitors could enjoy IRONWASTE, a k-pop-stylized shooter by Semyon Nikolayev, a fourth-year student at Ulyanovsk State Technical University. 

“K-pop is one of the most popular genres, with characteristic music videos, but we chose it for fun. As a result, we got a peculiar combination of a hardcore gameplay in baby pink colors. In IRONWASTE, you are a combat robot tasked to protect floors from invaders and solve puzzles in order to win a popular k-pop online show – and uncover a conspiracy about it along the way. The game is already at the MVP stage and I’ve won 1 million rubles for development from the Student Startup program. I am now on the lookout for investors, while also training for the Master’s program at ITMO’s Game Development School. There, I am planning to find new members for my team and showcase the startup to its target audience. Once I get their feedback, I will continue polishing the game,” shared Semyon.

According to the organizers, the conference is slated to become a bi-annual event to be held in February and June.