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 caught up with Marek-Martin Matyska from Geewa. Matyska has been a competitive gamer his entire life, When he was 18, with the help of two good friends, he decided to take control of the biggest Czech gaming cafe with 80 computers. In 2013 he got the opportunity to jump in to Game Development in the role of a Designer, and he hasn't looked back ever since!
At Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 he'll be on a panel discussing eSports, as well as giving a keynote speech about designing for competitive gaming.
Pocketgamer.biz: Tell us a bit about the company
Marek-Martin Matyska: Geewa was founded in 2005, When Facebook came we became the leader in Pool games on Facebook with over 2 million Daily Active Users, Now our leading game is Smashing Four! Geewa stands for "Games for Everyone, Everywhere, With Anyone"
What does your role entail?
I'm a Senior Game Designer in the company and a Lead Designer on an upcoming unannounced title for Mobile!
Why did you want to work in the games industry?
I've played games my entire life, having the opportunity to be on the other side and develop them, balance them? That was a dream come true!
What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?
Play games, think about games, deconstruct games and do it for the passion of gaming, not for the money!
What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?
After Fortnite stormed the world, I'm genuinely curious what will be the next blockbuster of similar size.
What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?
I think there will be a slow-down in the eSports scene as we already see some growth slowing, I also think we will see more legislative / regulation aimed towards tackling Loot boxes in video-games that are totally / partially marketed towards children, I also think we will see more experiments in subscription based models, however I strongly believe Free 2 Play will reign supreme.
How has the games industry changed since you first started?
The mobile market became much more mature, Back when I started only industry leaders knew how to utilize the enormous advantage of data that the mobile platform allows, nowadays even smaller indie studio are actively thinking about how we can make the game better post-launch by utilizing analytics.
Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?
It is my 2nd Pocket Gamer Helsinki so I have to say karaoke! In all seriousness, I'm looking forward to meeting fellow developers and exchanging opinions on the recent things that have happened in our developer world!
