Part of an international series of events, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki returns for its fifth outing in Finland’s capital city next week on September 11th to 12th. You can still register here.
Pocket Gamer Connects isn’t just the biggest B2B games event in the country; it’s also the biggest for the mobile games industry in Europe. And this time, it’s bringing a friend - Blockchain Gamer Connects.
We've packed a lot into just two days, with a total of 160 speakers and 16 conference tracks across the two events, a bustling expo, a game jam, Big Indie Pitch events for PC and mobile with G-STAR, the $150,000 finale of our blockchain developer contest with Alto.io, workshops, IGDA Mentor Cafe, matchmaking sessions, an unlimited free meeting system; PechaKucha-style sessions and legendary Global Connects party.
With all that going on and showtime rapidly approaching, we thought we’d pull together a handy guide to everything you need to know about Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018.
Badge pickup is at the Registration point in the venue and starts from 4pm to 6pm, Monday September 10th.
General information
Event website: http://www.pgconnects.com/helsinki/
Dates: September 11th to 12th
Venue: The Scandic Marina Conference Centre
Venue address: Katajanokanlaituri 6, 00160 Helsinki
Venue phone: +358 9 166 61
- The direct train journey from the airport to city centre costs €5 and takes about half an hour.
- There’s a grocery store at the airport if you need supplies for your stay.
- There are free bus rides to the show for far afield Finnish delegates.
- [UPDATE] There's a Badge Pick Up Party the day before the show, from 6pm to 9pm on Monday September 10th. Just head to Helsinki Games Factory, Lapinlahdenkatu 16, 00180 Helsinki.
- [UPDATE] Badge pickup on the day is at the Registration point in the venue from 8:30am to 6pm on the 11th; and from 9am to 5pm on the 12th.
- Lunch will be available from 1pm both days on a first-come, first-served basis.
More than 160 speakers across both shows!
Speakers and conference
- More than 160 speakers across both shows! Check the full conference schedule for your essential seminars.
- Our pick of the speakers you won’t want to miss for each of the 16 conference tracks.
- Find out more about the speakers with their Q&A Speaker Spotlights.
- The new Connects X track features topics unique to PC, Nintendo Switch, VR and AR.
- Track rundown: The Growth Track.
- Track rundown: Game Changers - Hypercasual and Instant Messenger.
- Track rundown: Esports Academy.
- Track rundown: The Indie Track.
- More track rundowns to come this week.
More than 1,200 delegates will attend and more than 600 companies will be represented.
Networking and fringe benefits
- More than 1,200 delegates will attend.
- More than 600 companies will be represented at the show - see who’s there and who you want to meet.
- Arrange your meetings in advance. Check your email for an invitation to our Pitch & Match online meeting scheduler, free to all attendees.
- The Fundamentals Of Pitching workshop is from 2pm to 3:30pm on day two. Sign up in advance here.
- The SpeedMatch session pairing developers, publishers and investors is on September 12th from 11am to 1pm.
- The IGDA Mentor Cafe sponsored by Game Analytics runs from 10am to 12pm on Tuesday. Sign up here.
- The Pocket Jam 3 game jam runs throughout both days of the show. Sign up here.
- The Big Indie Zone showcasing indie talent throughout both days of the show is located in the expo area.
- The Very Big Indie Pitch will be held on the first day.
- The PC Indie Pitch will be held on the second day.
- This is the last Pitch of the year for the winners to be put forward for the end of year finale Big Indie Awards at Korea’s G-STAR this November.
- King, Nitro Games, Rovio, ZeptoLab and friends close out day one from 6pm to 7pm with epic PechaKucha Sessions and free beer!
- The Global Connects Party is from 7:30 to midnight on the first night and is free to all ticket holders. It’s being held at the same venue as last year, Virgin Oil Co, Mannerheimintie 5, 00100 Helsinki.
Your ticket grants you access to both shows.
Blockchain Gamer Connects
- Blockchain Gamer Connects Helsinki will be held at the same venue on the same dates as Pocket Gamer Connects.
- Your ticket grants you access to both shows.
- Four conference tracks.
- 40+ speakers.
- Check the full schedule here. (Filter by track.)
- Read about some of the speakers on BlockchainGamer.biz.
- Or find out more about them from their Q&As, also on BlockchainGamer.biz.
- There’s a Blockchain Game Investor Pitching Session from 17:00 on Monday 10th, the day before the show. Sign up here.
- The Roadshow Pitching Sessions are at 5pm on day one.
- The $150,000 final of the Alto Crypto Gaming Challenge powered by BlockchainGamer.biz will be held at 5pm on the second day.
Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki is sponsored by
G-STAR; deltaDNA; Epic Games; Alto.io; Mintegral; Nutaku, Unity Technologies; MoPub; KamaGames; Hatch; Fingersoft; HyprMX; Libring; Ogury; Emoji Games; devtodev; Adrealm; Domraider; Game Analytics; and Exit Games.