Playtopia MGA 2019
PLAYTOPIA and MAKE GAMES AFRICA (MGA) have joined forces to make one ecstatic 3-day event where attendees can enjoy local and international indie games, eye melting interactive and digital art and a killer music line up! There will be two conferencing streams available to delegates this year, the MGA Business to Business conference and the Playtopia Talks aimed at delegates interested in the creative side of game development. Playtopia delegates are invited to attend talks, panels and workshops hosted by both international and local industry experts in the field of Indie Game development and the MGA talks are aimed at business development of gaming within the African context, tickets are very limited and booking is essential!
Taking cues from international alternative games festivals, Playtopia MGA marks South Africa's debut homegrown celebration of games and interactive art. Producing a series of surprise global hits, South Africa's game makers (and their unique creations) have landed up on the international map, and Playtopia MGA stands to celebrate the country's diverse game development community, and inspire the next generation of creators, gamers and enthusiasts. Collecting the best of local art and games alongside international contemporaries, Playtopia MGA promises to be one of a kind African gaming celebration.
Gamers, developers and event goers will have a plethora of games, music, food and experiential art to enjoy. Exhibitions by some of South Africa’s top interactive artists, 30+ alternative, art and party games, a Super Friendship Arcade room with games played on custom controllers, VR rooms and music entertainment.
WHAT TO EXPECT!
- 35+ Indie Game exhibition
- VR exhibition
- Super Friendship Arcade hardware games exhibition
- Immersive arts exhibition
- Playtopia Talks with international and African speakers (Playtopia and MGA delegate ticket holders only)
- MGA B2B Talks with international and African speakers (MGA delegate ticket holders only)
- awesome music line up!
- beer garden
- food trucks
- hours and hours of playful fun!
Fun Fact!
Playtopia falls under the newly created Africa Games Week initiative. Together with Make Games Africa we aim to create a lasting presence on the festival calendar as one annual games and playful media event.
NB! Please take note, MGA tickets and Playtopia Talks tickets will be priced differently, and whilst an MGA ticket gives you complete all access, a Playtopia Talks ticket will not give you access to the MGA talks.
This event is a strictly 18+, the reason being that some of the games are not suitable for children.
Contact: [email protected]
MUSIC LINE UP!
PARKING MAP: WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO UBER AS PARKING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED
VENUE MAP
Dr Mitu Khandaker holds a PhD on the aesthetics of interactivity in video-games. She is an Assistant Arts Professor at NYU Game Center and CEO and co-founder at Glow Up Games.
As a co-founder of The Blackheart Gang, Shy the Sun and Tulips & Chimneys, Ree has become Africa’s most awarded animation director, having her work with the likes of Electronic Arts, Hendrick’s Gin, Riot Games, and United Airlines awarded at the Clios, Communications Arts Awards, D&AD, The Loeries, The London International Awards, Mobius Awards, New York Festivals and The South African Film and Television Awards, among others.
Nicole He is a programmer, artist, and game developer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her recent work is focused on unusual uses of voice technology. She has worked as a creative technologist at Google Creative Lab, an outreach lead at Kickstarter, and an adjunct faculty member at ITP at NYU, where she received her Master's degree. She's working on an upcoming sci-fi, narrative voice-controlled game produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Maize Wallin is a Melbourne based composer, sound designer, and audio programmer. Their focus is in 3D spatialised audio, and dynamic music, using cutting edge techniques. Maize consults in Australia and around the world on these topics, and is heavily engaged in the game development community, and in activism and representation within it.
Maize's solo project focus is currently on Noise Drawers, a VR musical instrument they have been performing and touring with!Ben Rausch is an “artstronaut”, exploring the unknown, through new combinations of creativity and technology.
For the past 5 years, Ben’s primary creative focus has orbited around games, how they can disrupt status quos, bring people together, positively rewire players, and The World around them. He is one third of the punk game band Team Lazerbeam, an organizer of the alternative games party Super Freindship Arcade, and programme director of Playtopia.
Rick Treweek, owner of Eden Labs, speaks regularly on emerging technologies at conferences around the world, including VR Days in Amsterdam and Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference in Munich.
He co-founded mobile innovation company Breakdesign in South Africa in 2004, creating mobile games, like World of Rabbit, that had over 16m downloads - before the birth of in-app purchasing or advertising.Rick had moved with Breakdesign to Singapore, where he was soon swept up in 3D printing and the maker movement. This led first to Trobok Toys, which focused on distributing 3D printer designs for his toys rather than the toys themselves, and then African Robot, which focused on bringing disruptive technologies like 3D printing to Africa.
Tulips & Chimneys together with Eden Labs will be exhibiting their 2019 Annecy Official VR Selection and award nominated experience; The Lost Botanist. Merging virtual and the real worlds, the experience will be exhibited as a sculptural installation depicting the realm of the Undergarden.
Additional information
Refund policy | Refunds allowed (view policy) |