My Neighbor Alice’s team at Develop:Brighton

Develop:Brighton is one of the biggest game development conferences in Europe. The team behind My Neighbor Alice participated with the goals of connecting with game industry actors, hearing from game topics specialists and understanding the perception of blockchain in the industry.

We are still at the early stages of Blockchain games, and there remain many questions from the traditional game industry. The perspective of the Metaverse talks did not include blockchain at its core, but was more rooted in a desire for technology with some core principles on display:

• Connecting humans
• The opportunity of being of something big
• Living out a fantasy
• Meeting relatable characters

Companies like Animoca or Machination were instead more focused on the pros of blockchain in the metaverse and how to handle the challenges of the in-game economy. Some problems connected to blockchain games remain to be solved. The common critiques of blockchain games are:

• User onboarding is too difficult
• Play & Earn are viewed as ponzi schemes
• High entry price
• They’re not fun

The industry does however appear excited to contribute to the metaverse and bring a diverse view on the metaverse.

Develop:Brighton is highly committed to diversity in the industry. Many talks mentioned the necessity of bridging the gender gap or making space for LGBTQ+. Actionable points were presented to bring diversity to the team culture as well as the game design. We received great insights from Tülay McNally, Director, Inclusive Design & Product Development at Electronic Arts, on strategies to bring diversity, starting with the characters by working with consultant companies specialized in a certain area (e.g.: the representation of mental health in media).

Art, Sound and Narrative talks aimed to present the processes they had in their games, such as the creation of an art direction or audio pipeline. An example of this is the audio team from As Dusk Falls, who had an interesting audio pipeline connected to narrative and in-game cutscenes. The art team from the same game took the time to explain their art direction process, the importance of the narrative needs and the wish to have scalability in the creation while being innovative in the aesthetic.

The team came back with action points and practical advice to include in the project. It is amazing how much one can learn from each other in the gaming industry!

About My Neighbor Alice

My Neighbor Alice is a social online game with focus on resource gathering, crafting and creative expression. Players build their own virtual lands, interact with neighbors, perform exciting daily activities and earn rewards along the way.

Join Alice’s Channels:

Discord: https://discord.gg/myneighboralice

Telegram: https://t.me/MyNeighborAlice

Telegram Announcement: https://t.me/AliceAnnouncements

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyNeighborAlice

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/my-neighbor-alice/