Business Day 2025: Speakers

David Azria

Digital Marketing Director, PLAION

David H. Azria is a seasoned expert in the game industry with over 15 years of experience, currently serving as Digital Marketing Director at PLAION. In this role, he develops and executes marketing strategies for AAA games, focusing on enhancing global player engagement and advertising.

Previously, as CMO at Travian Games, Azria led extensive marketing operations, community management, and brand development. His earlier tenure Director of Operations at Gravity was pivotal, introducing MMO and Free to Play model to Western markets.

Alexandra Batty

Senior Communications Manager, Headup

With several years of experience in gaming PR, from indie to AAA, Alexandra Batty is currently the Senior Communications Manager at Headup, and a Women in Games Ambassador.

Her role covers social media management, PR, influencer relations, first party relations, and overall strategic management of external communications with the rest of the MarComs team.

Sam Batty

Internal Communications Manager, PLAION

Sam Batty is an experienced Internal Communications Manager at PLAION, working closely with AAA studios and global territories to foster transparency, engagement, and a strong sense of community. With a background as a writer and narrative designer, and over a decade of journalism experience, Sam is passionate about celebrating people, telling authentic stories, and driving positive change.

Throughout his career, Sam has leveraged storytelling to connect teams, amplify diverse voices, and create impactful communication strategies. His expertise lie in crafting compelling narratives that bring organizations closer together while championing inclusivity and collaboration across the gaming industry.

Filippo Beck Peccoz

Game Audio Designer, FBPSound

Filippo Beck Peccoz is an award winning composer living and working in Munich.

Many musical journeys have been completed during the last years: from Edo Japan and the Wild West in “Shadow Tactics” and “Desperados III”, to cozy D&D vibes of “Tavern Talk” and the fantastical Mesozoic of “ITORAH” – each time telling the games’ story through music.

In a nutshell: Filippo makes music for games he loves!

Marlene Beilharz

Activist for Inclusion and Accessibility in Games

Marlene Beilharz is 28 years old and finished her studies (MA Film- und Medienkulturforschung) in Munich in 2023. She is fighting for accessibility in games, because she knows, based on her physical disability, that only a very few games offer enough options to be played by all people.

Furthermore the visibility of people with disabilities is underrepresented in games. She is a member of the German “Netzwerk für Barrierefreies Gaming” and was part of the jury of “Deutscher Computerspielpreis”. Also she wrote a first story for a point&click adventure (Sara – Story of a young Thief) which is realized by Birnchen Studios. The demo was presented at Gamescom 2024.

Jolina Bering

Psychologist, JolyThePsych – psychological online counseling for creators and creative businesses

Jolina is a psychologist (M.Sc.) focusing on improving mental health and performance in the gaming industry working with a vast clientele from content creators and creative individuals to businesses and leaders of creative teams.

Julie Buchanan

Composer/Sound Designer

Julie Buchanan is an award-nominated composer and sound designer for games currently living in Berlin.

She did the audio for Say No! More which was nominated for IGF’s Excellence in Audio Award (2021), contributed an anthem pack for Rocket League, did additional sound design for Godfall, and made an original remix for League of Legends: Wild Rift’s main theme. Most recently she has been working on unannounced projects with Megapop and One Pony Trick Games. Julie graduated in 2014 from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA as a Film Scoring major and Video Game Scoring minor. Afterwards, she moved to Los Angeles and interned under Henry Jackman and Lorne Balfe at Remote Control Productions. Following her internships Julie started working freelance in game audio and now has almost 10 years of experience. She loves writing electronic music and creating creature and gore sound design. According to her Steam tags, her favorite games include LGBTQ+, dating sims, emotional, procedural generation, and dinosaurs.

Nathalie Galla

Community & Communications, Godot Foundation

Nathalie Galla originally started her games industry journey as an aspiring programmer, but quickly realized her true passion lies with people rather than code. Using her technical background, she is currently working as Community & Communications Manager for the Godot Foundation.

When being constantly online becomes part of your job, analyzing the good and bad aspects of social media is only natural – and dabbling in queer activism as well as content creation exposes you to a variety of problems on the internet. Nat is determined to lend a helping hand in fighting those together.

Julius Girbig

Senior Technical Animator – Coordinator, CD PROJEKT RED

Julius Girbig is a Technical Animator working on The Witcher 4 and coordinating the Technical Animation discipline at CD PROJEKT RED.

Maxi Gräff

Marketing Lead Xbox DACH, Microsoft Deutschland GmbH

Maxi Gräff is an accomplished marketing professional with extensive experience in the gaming industry.

Currently serving as the Gaming Marketing Lead for the DACH region at Microsoft.

Dimitry Halley

Managing Editor GameStar.de, Webedia GmbH

Dimitry Halley studied journalism in the distant past, but has been working for Germany’s biggest gaming site GameStar for 10 years.

As managing editor, he now plays a key role in deciding which topics are covered and which are not. In his private life, he collects comics, builds Gundams and swears in Marvel Rivals.

Martin Hamberger

Senior Writer & Narrative Designer, Limbic Entertainment GmbH

Martin Hamberger is a writer and game designer with 15 years work experience.

He’s been part of Mimimi Games until the closure in 2023 and is currently working at Limbic Entertainment on an unannounced project.

Robin Hartmann

Sr. PR & Partnership Manager, game events GmbH (devcom)

Robin Hartmann has 22 years of work experience, 15 years within the digital media industry.

Full stack project management in leading roles paired with agile methods, communication-, event management-, public affairs-, and sparring skills.

Prof. Michael Hebel

Professor for Game Art and Design, Hochschule Neu-Ulm

Michael Hebel is Professor of Game Design and Game Art, as well as Head of the Game Production and Management course at Hochschule Neu-Ulm (University of Applied Sciences).

He previously worked in the games industry at Ubisoft Studio Mainz as Lead 3D Artist. He has published numerous award-winning international games such as Anno 1404, Anno 2070 and Might and Magic Heroes Online.

In addition to his work, he regularly took on teaching assignments and held numerous lectures and workshops in the field of game development and game didactics at various universities. He deals with didactic concepts in the areas of game production, game art and game design, the formalization of game teaching, the significance of grades in design and other aspects of design and game didactics.

Together with Prof. Stephan Jacob from Hochschule Darmstadt (University of Applied Sciences), he organized the first German conference for game didactics in June 2024. The two currently unite German game teachers and researchers in the German Game Science Association (in the process of being founded).

Christian Heimerl

Founder, welevel

Gamer and Entrepreneur

Helena Kasper

Lawyer, SKW Schwarz

Helena Kasper advises national and international companies on the legally compliant design of data processing processes and business concepts.

In doing so, she supports them in all data protection-related matters, with a particular focus on ensuring GDPR-compliant design for websites, platforms, apps, and games, as well as the contractual implementation with service providers and affiliated companies.

Another area of specialization for her is the implementation of data subject rights, including in the context of regulatory or legal proceedings related to access, deletion, or rectification requests, as well as in the case of data protection incidents and cyberattacks.

Helena Kasper is also Co-Head of the SKW Schwarz Innovation Lab, which specializes in digitalizing legal services and the technical and legal implementation of AI solutions in client work. Since her time as a research assistant, she has focused on improving legal consulting efficiency through innovative solutions.

Jane Katsubo

Senior Concept Artist, Larian studios

Jane Katsubo is a senior concept artist with 10+ years of experience.

She mostly focuses on character design, and has worked in-house on Baldur’s Gate 3, Divinity Original Sin 2, and as a freelancer artist on numerous D&D books, Warhammer 40000: Roguetrader, Remnant: From the Ashes.

Prof. Marcus Klöppel

Professor for Game Design & Development, Hochschule Macromedia – Campus Leipzig

Marcus Klöppel completed a business degree at HTWK Leipzig from 2013 to 2020 with a focus on the book industry. Before and during this time, he tested and refined storytelling in the interactive medium in pen and paper, a medieval theme park and digital indie projects.

Since 2023, he has been a professor at Macromedia, training the next generation of the game industry in game design and interactive storytelling.

Chris Kohler

Composer & Sound Designer, Chris Kohler – Music & Sound

Chris Kohler is a freelance game composer and sound designer based in Munich, Germany.

His most recent work includes the original soundtrack for Mindlock – The Apartment. With a strong focus on working with live musicians and experience recording orchestras, Chris specializes in creating authentic, unique soundtracks that support the game’s narrative and enhance the player experience.

In addition to his work in the industry, Chris teaches Audio for Games at the university level, sharing his expertise with the next generation. He collaborates with developers worldwide to ensure their games sound exceptional and leave a lasting impression on players.

Kilian Kramer

Team Lead Partnership Planning & Innovation, ESL FACEIT Group

Kilian Kramer is responsible for the conception and development of commercial partnerships at the world’s largest esports organization (ESL FACEIT Group).

Over the past few years, he has worked on some of the most significant partnerships in esports (e.g. Intel or DHL) and gained extensive experience with the biggest esports tournaments (such as EWC or IEM). Prior to this, he was a Marketing Specialist at Intel, involved in planning and executing marketing initiatives in the German gaming environment, and completed a Master of Arts in Sports, Business, and Communication from Munich Business School with a thesis and published journal article on successful marketing in esports.

Moritz Mehner

Lawyer / Partner, SKW Schwarz

Transferring his many years of private enthusiasm for gaming and esports to his professional life, Moritz Mehner also focuses his advice on the legal matters surrounding this sector.

He also focuses his advice on both classic and new software development and licensing agreements as well as issues relating to digital marketing, regulatory requirements, general terms and conditions, competition law, and consumer protection law.

His legal work additionally concentrates on designing and implementing solutions to legal problems associated with digitizing existing and innovative business models in the fields of AI, Data Economy (including IoT, Big Data), DLT-Technologies and Cloud Computing.

Finally, Moritz is also experienced in matters of data protection, in particular the practical application of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Barbara Mendes Jenner

Studio Lead, Narrative Design, Moonlit Monitors

After getting involved in a student game project during her psychology studies and falling for the collaborative and creative aspects of game developement, Barbara Mendes Jenner decided that she wanted to keep doing exactly that and founded the indie game studio Moonlit Monitors with her friends.

When she isn’t designing or writing for her own projects, she is teaching storytelling to game design students or giving talks and holding workshops about the topic. As part of the Narranauten she also organises events celebrating Narrative Design.

Fawzi Mesmar

Creative Director, Ubisoft

Fawzi Mesmar is an award winning game designer, leader, author, and public speaker with over two decades of experience in the gaming industry.

His career has spanned the Middle East, New Zealand, Japan, and Europe working for companies such as Ubisoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Gameloft, and Atlus to name a few. He has contributed to over 20 titles enjoyed by millions of players worldwide including entries in the Mario + Rabbids, Star Wars Outlaws, Beyond Good and Evil, Battlefield, and Candy Crush franchises. Fawzi is also the author of “Demystifying Creativity: On Originality in Game Development” and “Al-Khallab in the Art of Game Design” the first Arabic language textbook on game design.

Alexandra Müller

Head of Corporate Communications, PLAION

Alexandra Müller is a communications expert with a diverse and international career spanning broadcasting, narration, community management, and corporate communications.

As the Head of Corporate Communications at PLAION, she leads strategic initiatives that shape the company’s global messaging. As the child of a disabled parent, she is also a staunch advocate for accessibility & diversity – in communication and otherwise.

Sandro Odak

Global PR Lead, Techland

Sandro Odak has been spinning tales in the games industry for over 17 years. His journey began as a journalist, where he spent over a decade writing for Gamezone, IGN, and GameStar, basically getting paid to play games and complain about the bad or – more often – praise the really good ones. In 2019, he decided to focus entirely on the praising part and moved from journalism to PR. Since then, his mission has been to help gamers find their next favorite game.

Today, Sandro is the Global PR Lead at Techland, currently preparing for the launch of the open-world survival-horror game Dying Light: The Beast later this summer. For a guy in the horror business, he scares pretty easily – so when you meet him at GG Bavaria, speak slowly and don’t move too quickly, or you might just break him.

Arden Osthof

Senior Narrative Designer

Arden Osthof is a non-binary narrative and game designer. They have worked on renowned franchises at Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Mainz; shipping Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 and helping the Anno strategy series break into the international market through their multi-lingual expertise. Now they work as a freelancer for indie teams to deliver gripping stories together.

Jan-Hendrik Pfitzner

Technical Coordinator, GIANTS Software

Jan-Hendrik Pfitzner, Technical Coordinator at GIANTS Software, has extensive experience in community outreach and support since 2013 and is responsible for in-house prototyping and supply chain management.

One of his greatest achievements was co-founding and developing FSL, which has turned Farming Simulator into a competitive e-sport.

With presentations at events such as FarmCon, Game Access, Devcom or Agritechnica, he brings extensive experience and a passion for gaming and agriculture, making him a recognized speaker in this field. Audiences can expect a comprehensive overview of the unique e-sports landscape that has been shaped by Farming Simulator.

Raffaele Picca

Game Developer, Bippinbits GmbH

Raffaele Picca is making games at Bippinbits and as a solo-developer.

He started working in the games industry in 2005 with the primary focus on art and art direction.

Mate Raspović

Group Lead R&D, Media Lab Bayern

Mate Raspović führt das R&D Team des Media Lab Bayern – dem größten deutschen Innovation Hub für die Medienbranche. Sein Fokus liegt auf Strategiearbeit, Medienhäusern und dem Management von Innovationen. Er betreibt den Newsletter “Innovation is Boring”.

Paul Redetzky

Managing Director, Emergo Entertainment

Paul Redetzky is managing director of Emergo Entertainment which he founded together with Carl-Philipp Hellmuth right after completing University.

The studio has been in operation since 2021 and develops games as well as interactive media beyond entertainment.

Christoph Redl

Hard Surface Artist, Romero Games

With over seven years of experience in the games industry, Christoph Redl is a seasoned Hard Surface Artist specializing in the creation of detailed and realistic weapons and props.

His professional journey has allowed him to collaborate with top-tier video game developers on several AAA titles, where he has consistently delivered high-quality assets that enhance the gaming experience.

Zoran Roso

CMO / Founder, ZR Consulting

Zoran Roso is a seasoned gaming industry veteran and founder of ZR Consulting, leveraging over 25 years of global marketing expertise.

Previously Global Publishing & Marketing Director at Tencent Games, his career spans leadership roles at Sony PlayStation, Activision Blizzard, and Rockstar Games to name a few. A strategic advisor to major publishers, Roso specializes in international brand development and live service strategies across console, PC, and mobile platforms.

Luke Savage

Education Advisor, Epic Games

Luke Savage is Education Advisor at Epic Games, working with universities and colleges around the world to build the next generation of talent. He previously ran the PlayStation First academic program at Sony Interactive Entertainment, helping students develop and publish games on PlayStation. Prior to that, Luke worked in skills development across the UK, building training programs for the Film and Games industries.

Boris Schneider-Johne

Senior Product Manager, CipSoft GmbH

Boris Schneider-Johne is one of Germanys “elder statesmen” of Videogames.

Having started with C64 programming in the early eighties, he was editor and editor-in-chief at two of the most successful magazines in Europe, Power Play and PC Player. He also translated games and consulted for Lucasfilm Games, Electronic Arts, Interplay and Origin Systems. Over a ten year period he held jobs like PR Manager and Product Manager, was deeply involved in the European launches of Xbox Live and Kinect (from both the technical and localization side) and ran launch campaigns for titles like Forza Motorsports. After a long break in the more serious side of the IT industry Boris went back to work for a Games Studio: CipSoft in Regensburg, Bavaria, in September 2024.

Markus Schwerdtel

Member Editorial Board, Webedia GmbH

Markus has 25 years of experience in gaming journalism and is managing all printed publications of GameStar and GamePro.

Devan Soyka

Senior Narrative Designer, Crytek

Devan Soyka is a Senior Narrative Designer at Crytek, and has worked making AAA, indie, and mobile games.

She has spoken on narrative, communication, and mental health with Devcom, the Gaming Academy, Sumo Digital, and Femdevsmeetup.

Jade Summers

Accessibility Specialist

Jade Summers is an accessibility specialist with 12 years of experience working in the games industry.

Her experience includes establishing Rockstar Games’ Accessibility team, providing accessibility training, and helping teams create inclusive experiences for players.
Currently she is working as a consultant on an indie game.

Markus Wilding

Founder / Consultant, Beyond the Wall Consulting

Markus Wilding is a seasoned industry expert with decades of expertise in marketing, communica­tions, and the wider business within the global video games industry.

Drawing on extensive experience gained from living and working across key markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, he has held leadership roles at world-class AAA publishers, including 2K, Rockstar Games, and Activision, as well as indie publisher Private Division. After nearly 30 years working in the video game industry, he founded Beyond the Wall Consulting to help companies meet the ever-increasing challenges of a dynamic and competitive landscape.

ExP – Expert Talks & Pretzels

Lena Fischer (she/her), Ivette Schmidt (they/she), Jennifer Burkhardt (she/her)

ExP is an event series for knowledge exchange and networking in the games industry. Every few months, developers, students, and industry professionals come together to gain new insights, get inspired, and connect in a relaxed atmosphere. Each event features a flexible format tailored to the topic at hand—whether through inspiring talks, in-depth case studies, or interactive game design analyses. ExP is open to everyone, regardless of experience or specialization, and thrives on the diversity and collegiality of the games community.

Narranauten

Marcus Klöppel (he/him), Barbara Mendes (she/her), Josephine “Josi” Fischer (she/her)

Wir sind ein Zusammenschluss aus Narrative Designer*innen und Games Writer*innen um das Erzählen in und mit Spielen zu stärken. Wir lieben Games, Narrative Design und interaktive Stories. Wir wollen dich unterstützen, das alles selbst umzusetzen.

Sound Sessions

Alec Shea, Chris Kohler

Sound Sessions is a series of presentations designed to shed light on the different areas of game audio, giving developers across all experience levels insight into this field and how it fits into game development. Audio is a key driver of immersion, storytelling, and player engagement, but is often forgotten, left until the last moment, or misunderstood in its importance.

Each event will focus on a specific theme, with talks from industry professionals who will share actionable insights, creative techniques, and insider knowledge. This will assist developers in giving their games well-integrated soundtracks, immersive sound design, emotionally substantial voice acting, optimised and reactive audio integration, as well as other more niche audio and audio-adjacent skills

Womenize!

Booster Space Events & Consulting GmbH

Womenize! is a dynamic initiative focused on empowering and celebrating women and underrepresented groups in the gaming industry. Through workshops, talks, panel discussions, networking opportunities and interviews, it creates a platform to amplify voices, share inspiring stories, and foster meaningful connections.