CEOs of biggest Slovak game companies discussing the future of gamedev in Slovakia (Game Days 2021)

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CEOs of biggest Slovak game companies discussing the future of gamedev in Slovakia.

Šimon Šicko (Former CEO, R&D at Pixel Federation)
Simon Sicko is the co-founder and former CEO of the Slovak company Pixel Federation - an independent game developer and publishing company where he leads the R&D department. Currently Pixel Federation is an online browser, social and mobile games-oriented company. With more than 200 employees it belongs to one of the largest Game Studios in Central Europe. Simon has received several awards for his work in the field: Manager of the year 2016, Tech Entrepreneur of the year 2014. He was a nominee for the following awards: IT person of the year 2016, Crystal Wing 2017 for Economy, and Entrepreneur of the year 2018.

Ivan Krechňák (CEO at PowerPlay Studio)
Originally a doctor of medicine, Ivan has been in the game business since 2003. Together with his two partners, he founded PowerPlay Studio in 2007, which focuses on the creation of online sports games. PowerPlay Studio has released 15 games to date, played by over 12 million players worldwide. Among the most well-known titles are Biathlon Mania and Ski Jump Mania 3. An international team of over 50 people is involved in the development of the games. Among other things, the entire PowerPlay Studio is actively involved in the promotion of sport and strives to support promising sporting talent. In 2014, the company was awarded the title of the fastest growing technology company in Slovakia - Deloitte Technology Fast 50. Its practical insight into the development of generational changes on the future of sports is not to be missed!

Peter Nagy (CEO at Games Farm)
Peter Nagy is the CEO and creative director of Games Farm development studio and Grindstone publishing/production house. He worked on more than 20 crossplatform games with various partners and his games were played by millions of players across the world. He also actively participates in the development of the Slovakian gaming industry, organizes game development conference in Kosice, speaks at various events. His most recently released game is Shadows: Awakening (2018) and currently is working on not yet announced title with Funcom.

Discussion is moderated by Filip Fischer (CEO, Charged Monkey).
Filip is an entrepreneur and mentor focused on the games industry. In 2007 he co-founded PIXELFEDERATION and build it into one of the top social games companies in EMEA. First, he lead the company in the role of CEO, later COO in charge of processes and change management growing the company to 100+ employees. Since 2014 he is a member of supervisory board at PIXEL. In 2012 he founded Game Dev Hub: Meet | Connect | Share, an independent game-developer platform supporting game developers and creating a lively game dev environment in Slovakia and expanding to CEE (formerly know as GameSPOT SK). In 2014, he became co-founder at Fun 2 Robots, an international game dev crew on the mission to bring console gaming experience to mobile devices. In 2014, he was fortunate to spend 7 exciting months at Geewa, in Prague, Czech Republic, where he was helping to reshape the company's vision and especially establishing processes and preparing the company for future growth in the position of COO and member of the board. In 2015, he co-founded Charged Monkey, game dev studio formed out of veterans and laser-focused on mobile midcore games. As an SME in social gaming, he held presentations and lectures at various events & conferences. He is mentoring game-dev startups as well as other growing companies. Filip is a networker and game-dev enthusiast looking for new business opportunities as well as connecting both the right people and companies. So if you need some help with an exciting game startup, give it a try, get in touch with him and come to this event to hear him speak!