Nordic Game presents the hosts of the NG22 Spring speaker program on 18-20 May, live streamed from the theatre of historic Slagthuset in Malmö, Sweden.
The hosts will be introducing speakers and conducting Q&A’s with the theatre audience, as well as online participants on the Nordic Game Discord. We’ve asked them to introduce themselves with some questions.
Nordic Game: Welcome as host for NG22 Spring! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re looking forward to during Nordic Game this May?
Maria Mejerwall, host of the live stream in the theatre on Wednesday, 18 May as well as the 2022 Nordic Game Awards on Thursday, 19 May at 18:00 CEST:
Maria Mejerwall: Thank you! I’m Marie, a long-time game dev and esports veteran who has been in those industries 14 and 20 years respectively, worked across the globe for a bunch of big game studios and recently started my own business where I advise studios and publishers on their games and host game design workshops. I also do outward-facing things such as speaking at events, host & cast esports games and star on TV shows and in podcasts from time to time.
Hosting Nordic Game is a huge honor for me. Growing up, just like everyone else I had dreams about working in the industry, and these dreams turned to goals – first paid gig in video games, first full-time job at a studio, first time working on an AAA title, becoming a game designer, reaching a leadership position, becoming a director… Now I can proudly say that I’ve accomplished almost all of them. But one special one remains: to one day present a game at E3. This is the only games event I knew of as a kid, and spent teenage years waking up at 3AM to it watch live streamed from Los Angeles.
As I recently became a consultant, I knew that I was sadly forfeiting this dream. Not in a million years did I consider that I could actually reach even higher, and get the opportunity to host a games conference. And what better place to do it, than here at Nordic Game in Sweden where my career began, and in front of all my industry friends. I’m truly humbled, happy and moved, and couldn’t be more excited to get on that stage and kick-off the show!
Jason Della Rocca, host of the live stream in the theatre on Thursday, 19 May:
Jason Della Rocca: I’ve been attending most of the Nordic editions since the early days…. I have so many great memories and experiences. One of the most impactful was the awards ceremony during my first visit. It was a full on gala dinner that everyone attended and winners were toasted from Viking-horned trophies. The family nature of that dinner and having the whole community cheering for each other really exemplified the camaraderie and support of the region.
Kate Edwards, host of the Nordic Game Executive Summit and Impact Sessions in the theatre on Wednesday, 18 May:
Kate Edwards: I didn’t originally aspire to work in games but it happened almost by accident. My first major job was as a cartographer at Microsoft, but I was able to evolve that role into creating a unique new team at the company which focused on helping the company avoid geopolitical and cultural risks across all their products. In that capacity, I ended up working on pretty much all of Microsoft’s games (Age of Empires, Halo, Fable, Forza and many others). After 13 years, I left Microsoft to form my own consulting firm Geogrify, and here I am 17 years later and incredibly busy performing culturalization consulting for a wide range of clients.
As I’ve worked alongside game creators for 28+ years now, I firsthand saw too many examples of companies not valuing their talent and failing at creating more diverse and inclusive workplaces. This passion drove my advocacy efforts in which I ran the International Game Developers Association and then the Global Game Jam, all towards the goal of supporting developers, building community, and elevating our craft on the global stage.
Besides simply being back together in person as we emerge from the pandemic, I’m really looking forward to hosting the Nordic Game Executive Summit and the Impact Sessions, as well as participating in many conversations about how we can continue to make this a better industry, starting with how we treat one another within and beyond our workplaces.
In addition to Marie and Jason, Thor Myrdal will also be hosting a part of the live stream program, more specifically the “Same Game, Different Music” session on Thursday, 19 May at 11:00 CEST as well as the Nordic Game Discovery Contest qualifier at Nordic Game on Friday, 20 May.
Nordic Game managing director Erik Robertson will also open and close the entire NG22 Spring live stream program, starting on Wednesday, 18 May at 11:00 CEST and ending on Friday, 20 May at 12:00 CEST.
Welcome to Nordic Game!
The NG22 Spring live streamed speaker program is presented by Amber, Giants Software, InnoGames, Midjiwan, Procedural Worlds, Slipgate Ironworks, SocialPeta and Xsolla.
Become a Nordic Game partner
Nordic Game would not be celebrating its twenty-first edition this spring without the tremendous support of our sponsors and partners. Many of them have already signed-up for our May event, both online and at Slagthuset in Malmö, Sweden, but we’re always ready to welcome new partners.
Contact us here for more info about the wealth of opportunities available to put your brand in front of the entire Nordic developer community and their global peers at Nordic Game.
About the Nordic Game conference
Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2022 will mark its twenty-first and twenty-second editions, as well as our return to historic Slagthuset. Gathering thousands of industry professionals in the spring and autumn each year, Nordic Game is the one and only “home turf” meeting place for the highly successful game developers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Nordic Game welcomes you on 17-20 May to Slagthuset in Malmö for NG22 Spring, both online and in the venue, as well as next November.
Get your passes to this spring’s edition of Europe’s leading games industry event today!
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