Xbox Game Camp Ukraine 2024: Celebrating Success in Ukraine's Gaming Industry
Hundreds of game developers came together to celebrate Ukrainian game developers and their significant contributions to the industry.
The video game industry thrives on unique stories being told by creators from around the world. Despite harsh conditions and uncertainty, Ukrainian developers continue to be an unwavering force in the gaming industry, creating immersive worlds and telling incredible stories for gaming communities to share.
On December 12, 2024, Xbox Game Camp, in collaboration with Microsoft Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, held a free one-day virtual event, broadcast live from the head office of 11 bit studios in Warsaw, Poland, to celebrate Ukrainian game developers and their significant contributions to the industry. Exceeding expectations, 450 game developers registered for the event, and viewing parties took place in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Krakow, and Kyiv.
The goal of Xbox Game Camp Ukraine 2024 was to share, with both established and emerging game developers, the knowledge, resources, and support to sharpen their skills while learning how to showcase their current projects and engage with independent developer programs like ID@Xbox.
Throughout the event, participants were given exclusive access to live sessions and moderated panels from experts at GSC Game World, 11 bit studios, EPAM, MachineGames, Simplygon, Room 8 Group, Team from Earth, Mejerwall Consulting, Seattle Indies, Blizzard, Mojang, Microsoft Ukraine, and Xbox Game Studios. Topics included presentations on Game Design, Creative Direction, Social Impact, UX/UI, AI in Gaming, Game Optimization, and more.
The Xbox broadcasting team in Redmond, Washington collaborated with 11 bit studios’ media team in Warsaw, Poland. 11 bit studios is known for its many critically acclaimed titles, such as the upcoming The Alters, the recent launch of Frostpunk 2, and This War of Mine, a survival game where you play as a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city.
During the event, Pawel Miechowski, Writer and Communications Lead at 11 bit studios, talked to campers about the company’s 10 years of developing meaningful entertainment, starting with the creation of This War of Mine in 2014 and how its success proved that ambitious, mature games can become more than entertainment and impact more than just gamers. They can become fully fledged works of culture that inspire, inform, and cause reflection. Pawel went on to talk about how important that mission is to 11 bit studios and why they’ll continue to create meaningful entertainment.
"The world is not a perfect place, so let's try to make it a little bit better than it is." - Pawel Miechowski, Comms Lead at 11 bit studios
Following the recent release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, an open-world first-person, survival horror shooter style game set in the desolate Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Yevhenii "Eugene" Kulyk, Technical Producer at GSC Game World, sat down with Guy Richards, Director of ID@Xbox, to talk about the making of the game along with the documentary “War Game: The Making of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2”, its launch on Game Pass, and one of the keys for success - community.
After massive success with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the pressure to deliver an equally impactful sequel was expected, but the journey to develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was filled with significant hardships and a powerful story of creation through chaos.
GSC Game World is an example of how a studio can battle loss, grief, and change but not become defined by those obstacles, and instead be a beacon of strength and perseverance in not only gaming, but across the world.
“Be human, stay human, and believe in humanity.” - Yevhenii Kulyk, Technical Producer at GSC Game World
Another studio with a highly anticipated release during the planning of Game Camp Ukraine was MachineGames, well known for the Wolfenstein franchise. On December 6th MachineGames launched Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a unique Indiana Jones story that takes place between the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Andreas Ojerfors, Design Director, and Ezekiel Virant, Lead Game Designer from MachineGames, chatted with Campers about their design philosophies and how they have evolved over time, their motivation and inspiration for designing games, and advice for aspiring developers.
The event ended with a live panel about UX/UI and Game Design from Sola Chang, UX/UI Lead at Blizzard, Art Usher, Sr. Manager of Content Review at Mojang, Ken Lobb, Creative Director at Xbox Game Studios, and moderated by Chris Douglas, Lead Business PM at Xbox Game Camp. During the session, and with a combined 73 years of game industry experience at the table, the panel answered the question “if you were starting out right now, but had all your game development knowledge, what is some advice you’d give to your past self?” Here are some of the answers given to campers:
- Be patient with yourself, understand that not everything is going to be perfect but stay vigilant and stick to what you're doing. - Art Usher
- One core skill that is underrated starting out is communication - being able to elegantly describe what you're trying to achieve is key. - Sola Chang
- Making games is incredibly hard, but make sure you're having fun even if it's hard. - Ken Lobb
Other notable sessions included a live presentation on Creative Direction by Jens “Jeb” Bergensten, the creative mind behind Minecraft; Insider advice on Game Optimization from Jesper Tingvall, a Product Evangelist at Simplygon; AI in Gaming with Vitalii Vashchuk, Sr Director & Head of Gaming Solutions at EPAM; a special feature from Olga Sheverieva, Business Developer at Seattle Indies; “Too Many Features, Too Little Time” by Marie Mejerwall of Mejerwall Condulting; and a discussion on Social Impact in Gaming by Jenn Panattoni, Head of Gaming Social Impact at Xbox.
Xbox Game Camp Ukraine 2024 marks the 11th activation since the program was founded in 2020. The program is made possible from the work of a small team and countless support from volunteers across Xbox, Microsoft, and the broader gaming industry. The true heroes, however, are the game developers that take the time to participate, share their passions, and bring unique perspectives to the table.
“At Game Camp, we want to support all creators so that they may tell their stories from their unique perspectives and represent gamers from around the globe. To our Ukrainian campers, thank you for being the best part of Game Camp and positively impacting the future of the gaming industry.” - Chris Douglas, Lead Business Program Manager at Xbox Game Camp
Game Camp wants to send a thank you to all participants that took the time to attend the event, some going above and beyond to obtain an internet connection. The team also sends a special thank you to Xbox Studios in Redmond, Washington who worked in live time with 11 bit studios in Poland to ensure a high-quality streaming experience. Lastly, special thanks to everyone at 11 bit studios for their generosity and support.
To stay up to date with Xbox Game Camp, visit xbox.com/gamecamp.