Newly revealed Nordic Game speaker line-up to include Planet of Lana devs

Nordic Game, which will take place on 26–29 May at Slagthuset in Malmö, has exclusively revealed its latest speakers to GamesIndustry.biz, along with the conference’s inaugural AI Track. GamesIndustry.biz will be an official media partner of the event.

Adam Stjärnljus and Klas Eriksson from Wishfully, the studio behind 2023’s Planet of Lana and its recently released sequel, will discuss how the game was gradually formed over the past 30 years, focusing on what it takes to keep believing across three decades.

Juliette Auverny-Bennetot from Raw Fury/Combined Effect will talk about the “New Rules of Game Publishing,” giving practical insights into what publishers actually look for and how deals are made, while Trine Laier from Real Vampires studio Those Eyes is giving a talk about flipping traditional mechanics and player expectations to create surprising, addictive gameplay and deeper emotional connections.

John Dower, who has previously worked with Rockstar Games and Saber Interactive, will lead a panel on motion capture in modern game development, providing practical takeaways and behind-the-scenes stories, while Amanda Gardfors Granberg and Alexander Benitez from Hela studio Windup Games will offer a session focused on player-first design and building meaningful loops.

The newly announced speakers join a line-up that already includes, among others, Anna Norrevik, development director at DICE, who will be talking about how four studios worked together to create Battlefield 6, as well as Gerardo Basurto, design director at Embark Studios, who will be discussing the mega-hit Arc Raiders. The full list of speakers can be found here, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition, the Nordic Pitch event will return, encouraging developers to pitch their game in three minutes, along with the Games Industry Network, which combines together a B2B social network, curated industry database, event matchmaking system, and private community spaces.

AI Track

This year, Nordic Game will be featuring an inaugural AI Track, curated by ImmerSynth Inc.

Announced speakers include Alastair Chamorro and Alexander Chamorro from Infinity Fiction, alongside Jeff Gardiner from Something Wicked Games and John Clark, the former EVP of publishing at Sega Europe, who is acting as an advisor to Infinity Fiction.

Their talk is entitled “Human-Led AI: the Future of Role Playing Games”, which will cover how “human-led design allows AI to scale storytelling, ensures great game design, and unlocks new gameplay features, while protecting IP, narrative integrity, and player trust.”

Tatu Petersen-Jessen, CEO and co-founder of Odd Latent, will be giving a talk entitled “How Odd Latent & AI is Redefining What it Means to be a Developer” on what it was like to build an AI-native studio, while Ewa Antczak, the CEO of Felixa, will be talking about the “Psychology and Technology Behind Safer Online Spaces.”

Finally, Jan Schnyder, CEO of Nunu AI, is giving a talk entitled “AI Game QA: What actually works today?”, which aims to provide an overview of what works and what doesn’t work in AI-driven testing.”

Nordic Game says it is expecting more than 3,000 attendees in 2026, and will feature more than 100 indie games on display in the showcase hall. Tickets are currently discounted by €100 until 30 April.

Nordic Game program director Jacob Riis spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about how the resurgence of indie gaming is a reaction to what the games industry has become.