Interview

PGC Helsinki: Dean Day will be presenting a session that asks the question To Switch or Not to Switch

"Games have become bigger but buggier"

PGC Helsinki: Dean Day will be presenting a session that asks the question To Switch or Not to Switch

Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 will take place on October 1st to October 2nd. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC Helsinki and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

In this speaker spotlight we chatted with Dean Day. Dean is a multi-award-winning Entrepreneur and the CEO of Greenlight Games, a games development and publishing studio. With just four years in the industry after starting his company fresh out of University, Dean has an impressive track record. With previous awards such as Young Startup Talent 2015, an honourable mention in Develops 30 under 30 and even one of his games winning a Best Game Bafta in 2017.

Greenlight Games originally started as a mobile games studio but has now expanded to PC, Console and VR - with Dean hoping to build up a reputable portfolio for the company over the next few years.

At Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 he'll be leading a session called To Switch, or Not to Switch.

Pocketgamer.biz: Tell us a bit about the company

Dean Day: Greenlight Games is a games publisher and investor, we've been around for 5 years and mostly do F2P mobile games.

What does your role entail?

BizDev and project management.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

I wanted to make games, jumped into University and did just that. Graduated and ended up selling them instead!

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

The games industry is an amazing and welcoming place, find your people, make great games.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

From a F2P angle, we're worried about the big companies pushing customers with bad loot box policies - it will hit us all hard in the long run.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Battle Royale games will rise, VR/AR will deplete, the gaming community will cry out for more single player stories and content.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

As we've moved away from physical hardware, games have become bigger but buggier, and that's now 'accepted'. There were no Day 1 updates when the game came off the shelf.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

The meetings are always great, seeing content that teams have created and doing my best to help them, even if it's with introductions or connections.