From November 3-7, the game industry once again gathered for DevGAMM Portugal 2025, our third edition and the biggest European show to date.
For the first time, the event featured two parts: the Madeira Games Summit and the Lisbon Conference.
To view the Summit highlights, follow this link.
Together, both events brought together 1,122 attendees from 53 countries. While 44% came from Portugal, the UK, Poland, and Spain rounded out the top represented countries.
40+ talks, Workshops & Table Talks
The Lisbon Conference featured over 75 speakers sharing their expertise across three parallel halls: Scorewarrior, tinyBuild, and Easybrain.
Attendees enjoyed standout sessions from some of the industry’s most inspiring voices, including:
- Chris Charla (Xbox) – Maximizing Your Global Success with Xbox
- Raphaël Joffres (Sandfall Interactive) – Music Design in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Petr Pekař (Warhorse Studios) – How to Create Unskippable Cutscenes
- Gabriela Siemienkowicz (11 bit studios) – Smart Marketing Tactics for Studios
- Paola Velasquez (Sony Interactive Entertainment) – Decision Making in Game Development from a Dialogue Perspective
- Yegor Ostapenko (GSC Game World) – Navigating the World of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
Also on the list were Unity Technologies, Miniclip, Giants Software Entertainment, Scopely, Sybo Games, Riot Games, Ubisoft, and more.
The Workshop room was packed throughout the conference, filled with attendees eager for real, practical, hands-on knowledge. Sessions were led by experts from Unity Technologies, Vivrato, Febucci, 8bit, Arcella Sound, Fortis Games, and Flying Wild Hog, delivering deep dives into production, tech, audio, and more.
For the first time, our roundtable discussions (aka Table Talks) were open to all attendees. Each session brought together 12 participants for private, focused conversations on hot topics such as AI, LiveOps, pre-production, the Portuguese ecosystem, and more.
The Table Talks were led by experts from Electronic Arts, GSC Game World, AppMagic, APVP, Kando Factory, and others.
Networking with MeetToMatch
The MeetToMatch platform facilitated countless connections, logging 1,187 scheduled meetings. Attendees also made the most of networking opportunities in the Expo Zone, which featured booths from tinyBuild, eGamesLab, Infatica, Unicorn Factory, APVP, and GameDev Lisbon.
The Career Hub, powered by 8Bit, Skillsearch, InGame Job, and Values Value, connected job seekers with employers, offering access to dozens of gamedev vacancies. This year, it also featured dedicated career consultations for job seekers – and the area was fully booked from early morning until late evening
Game Showcase & developer activities
We’re proud to share that DevGAMM Lisbon 2025 featured the largest Game Showcase in our history, spanning two bustling areas. It became the most vibrant spot of the conference, with over 80 games presented across both days.
The Game Showcase was sponsored by tinyBuild, with support from AMD as the technological partner.
Engage! with Publishers & Investors once again connected developers with attendees eager to discover new talent and make real deals. The activity brought together Epic Games Store, Critical Reflex, tinyBuild, ESDigital Games, Grindstone, Kando Factory, Playcus Publishing, Appodeal, FDG Entertainment, and more.
Sponsored by Xsolla, the Public Pitch was popular enough to run two sessions, each with a dedicated jury providing feedback and selecting the winners:
- Eddy Celestine, Xsolla
- Kyle Billings, Epic Games
- Lars Håhus, Llama Lane
- Alex Nichiporchik, tinyBuild
- Jessica Mitchell, indie.io
- Callum Underwood, IndieBI & Uwu Biz
Hosted by Rami Ismail, the show featured impressive, high-energy pitches. The jury was tough – yet we have our winners:
- The Long Night (Birdisland), presented by Hans von Knut Skovfoged
- Midgardr (Holy Radish), presented by Carolina Ronchi
DevGAMM Awards
In April 2025, we opened submissions for the DevGAMM Awards, celebrating AA and indie games with a $100,000 prize pool sponsored by Scorewarrior, plus an additional $35,000 in extra categories sponsored by Epic Games Store, Aptoide, Astra Logical, and tinyBuild.
After an incredible 610 entries and two months of judging by 150+ experts, we narrowed it down to 61 nominees. The final reveal of the winners took place at DevGAMM in Lisbon, featuring an exciting show with nominees, competition judges, and special guests as announcers.
The main winner of the night was Keep Driving by the Swedish studio YCJY Games. Other winners include:
- Misery by Platypus Entertainment x Ytopia (Community Vote)
- Glasshouse by Flat28 Collective (Developers Choice)
- Stretchmancer by Triangle Wave (Best Innovation)
- Hell Maiden by AstralShift (Best Game From Portugal)
- What the Clash? by Triband (Best Mobile Game)
- Breathedge 2 by RedRuins Softworks (Most Anticipated Game)
- despelote by Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena (Excellence in Narrative)
- Rockbeasts by Lichthund (Excellence in Audio)
- Tukoni: Forest Keepers by Dream Operator (Excellence in Visual Art)
- Drop Duchy by Sleepy Mill Studios (Excellence in Game Design)
For a full list of winners, visit the Awards website.
The Awards were supported by Steam with the DevGAMM Awards Celebration event, featuring all nominated games, top jury-voted titles, and several standout projects from the Lisbon Showcase. The event was featured on the Portuguese main page of Steam and collected over 7 million unique impressions and more than 230,000 unique views worldwide.
Special events
Sponsored by Scorewarrior, the Main Party became the ultimate chance to unwind after a busy day and meet new people as well as reconnect with old friends – in a relaxed, casual setting.
The party also featured what now seems to be a DevGAMM signature activity – a karaoke session, inspired by our friend Adrien Bacchi and sponsored by ChibiPhoenix.
The VIP & Speaker Reception has become a tradition as the first networking event in Lisbon. Bringing together VIP ticket holders and speakers, it set the tone for two busy days ahead with a relaxed and enjoyable evening.
The VIP Dinner, hosted at a traditional Portuguese restaurant, offered VIP ticket holders an intimate setting for deeper, more private networking.
Photo dump
For more pictures from the event, browse the albums below. Don’t forget to tag @DevGAMM when sharing your favorite moments online.
Thank you
We’d like to thank everyone who facilitated the event or took part in it in any form. None of it would’ve happened without you.
Special thanks goes to DevGAMM Portugal 2025 sponsors and partners.
Platinum Sponsors
Scorewarrior, Epic Games, Unreal Engine, eGamesLab, tinyBuild
Special Sponsors
Easybrain, Epic Games Store, Aptoide, Xsolla, Astra Logical, AMD, ChibiPhoenix
Silver Sponsors
Infatica, prettycool marketing
Partners
Turismo de Lisboa, APVP – Associação de Produtores de Videojogos Portugueses, Gaming Hub, MeetToMatch, 8Bit, Skillsearch, Values Value, inGame Job, 11 bit studios
WHAT’S NEXT?
As announced at DevGAMM in Lisbon, 2026 is shaping up to be a busy year.
- Dubai in spring – our first-ever conference in the MENA region.
- Gdańsk in June – the Polish edition moves to summer, finally giving us a chance to enjoy the Baltic Sea in warm weather.
- Lisbon in November – returning for the fourth year in a row.
With more events announced soon, stay tuned for the start of ticket sales and see you in 2026!
