CEO and Co-Owner of IO Interactive to discuss the making of smash spy action game 007 First Light in a special session at this flagship industry conference on 15th October
Game Republic New Horizons, the UK games industry conference taking place at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough this October, has announced an exclusive special James Bond session featuring Hakan Abrak, CEO and Co-Owner of IO Interactive, and Game Director of 007 First Light.
Hakan Abrak will be interviewed on-stage for a chat that will dive into the development of the number one action title 007 First Light, IO Interactive’s fastest-selling and highest-rated game to date. 007 First Light is a thrilling narrative action-adventure game where you follow James Bond as a young, resourceful, and sometimes reckless recruit in MI6’s training programme and discover an origin story of the world’s most famous spy.
“I’m really excited to be attending Game Republic New Horizons and to speak about 007 First Light, which was a dream project for IO Interactive,” said Hakan Abrak, CEO of IO Interactive.
“Being a massive James Bond fan, it’s just a huge honour to welcome Hakan and IO Interactive to our conference,” added Jamie Sefton, MD of Game Republic. “I can’t wait to learn more about the brilliant 007 First Light’s creation and how the talented team worked on bringing such an iconic character to life.”
Hakan Abrak is the CEO and Co-Owner of IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the Hitman franchise and 007 First Light. With over two decades in the gaming industry, Hakan has played key roles as a Producer on Glacier (IOI’s proprietary engine), Senior Multiplayer Producer on Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Executive Producer on Hitman Absolution, Studio Production Director on Hitman (2016), before becoming CEO and Co-owner of IO Interactive for the launches of HITMAN 2, and HITMAN 3, helping guide the series’ evolution. Hakan is also the Game Director for 007 First Light, which is both IO Interactive’s fastest-selling game, as well as its highest-rated game to date. Under Hakan’s leadership, IO Interactive became independent, and expanded globally with studios in Copenhagen, Malmö, Barcelona, and Brighton.
Other sessions at Game Republic New Horizons include a keynote featuring “The Father of PlayStation” Ken Kutaragi in conversation with The Game Business’ Chris Dring, a fireside chat with Rebecca Lautner, Chief Business Officer at Landfall, by GamesIndustry.biz Features Editor Lewis Packwood, and a “Hype-free Assessment of AI in Games” panel featuring Dr Tommy Thompson (AI and Games), Duygu Cakmak (Creative Assembly) and Matthias Siemonsmeier (Splash Damage).
The conference will also feature an Investment Zone in partnership with Games London with Teddy Keefe, Business Development Director for Tencent Games, a panel, “Beyond the Pitch: Securing (and Surviving) Angel Investment” with Nick Button-Brown (The Games Angels), Tracey McGarrigan (Ansible) and Ian Masters (Flick Games) and other sessions including public funders the BFI, the Arts Council and Innovate UK, platform-holder Xbox on bringing games to the platform, plus publishers and VC investors.
In addition, Game Republic New Horizons, taking place 14 – 16 October will be bringing a panel together on international markets, masterclasses on narrative design and building a Steam page, and tech deep dives including 5 things you need to know about PC game development from developer Weaseltron – as well as a Meet-to-Match meeting system throughout the day.
Game Republic New Horizons, again supported by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, also promises a special Dead By Daylight 10th Anniversary pre-party courtesy of Behaviour Interactive, and a VIP reception at Double Eleven featuring a fireside chat with 4J Studios on the 14th October and an after-event party featuring Michelin Star quality food, go-karting, video games, pool, mini-golf and more on the 15th October.
On the 16th October there will be curated attendee experiences or “Summats”: A Sea Summat, will take attendees to the seaside on the North East coast for beach huts and “fizz and chips”; a Create Summat will enable attendees to visit the Turner Prize in Middlesbrough as well as take lessons in DJ-ing, graffiti art and screen printing; while a Play Summat later in the day gives attendees opportunities to play games and enjoy music bingo with two rounds of video game soundtracks and prizes!
Tickets are available now as well as discounted accommodation, the latest programme and travel information on this site.
First supporters to come on board include Game Republic’s Official Partners Red Kite Games, Xsolla and Double Eleven, Tees Valley Combined Authority and Middlesbrough Council and Kudos Games, Steel City Interactive, Silver Lining Interactive, Plus Accounting, Escape Technology, Innovate UK Business Connect and Behaviour Interactive.
Images courtesy of IO Interactive and Amazon
