Last week, GAME Developers Session (GDS) Prague 2024 brought together indie developers and other game industry professionals for Central Europe’s oldest and largest game development conference. Held on 13–14 December, the event featured presentations, discussions, an expo area, and an expanded showcase of independent game development teams.
Gamebadges Highlights
On 13 December, GDS Prague 2024 spotlighted the Gamebadges project with three sessions focused on skill standardisation and recognition in game development.
The panel discussion, “Skill Badges – A Modern Approach to Standardisation of Industry Roles”, featured experts from Gamebadges consortium, such as Saija Heinonen & Ria Gynther (Metropolia University of Applied Sciences), David Šosvald (Charles University), Michal Roch (Czech Game Developers Association) & Jari-Pekka Kaleva (European Games Developer Federation) exploring challenges in defining roles and creating frameworks to streamline recruitment and career growth, moderated by Lukaš Kolek (Charles Games).
In “Introduction to Gamebadges,” Michal Roch presented a European competence-based badge system for transparent skill evaluation, highlighting the role of trained evaluators.
David Šosvald’s “Gamebadges Educator Stakeholder Meeting” addressed aligning academia with industry needs, enhancing employability, and recognising student skills.
These sessions showcased Gamebadges’ efforts to standardise skill recognition and foster collaboration between educators and professionals.
Gamebadges at the Expo Area
Gamebadges also hosted a booth at the GDS Expo Area for both conference days, engaging visitors in the Open Badge ecosystem’s development and promoting the upcoming badge testing phase for 2025.
The booth drew around 50 visitors, many expressing interest in future activities like interviews or early adoption, resulting in follow-up contacts, new initiatives, and potential partnerships.