Gamescom week preview: Top Devcom sessions for mobile devs

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Gamescom Week is finally upon us. From Monday, August 18th, Devcom will kick off with around 210 talks across two days. After that, the Gamescom B2B trade show begins from August 20th to 22nd, before the full consumer expo opens up to the masses on the 21st to 24th.

PocketGamer.biz is in town all week and we’ll be covering up the top sessions, announcements, conducting big interviews and dealing out our top takeaways from the showfloor.

Don’t forget – we’ll be hosting the Pocket Gamer Party on Monday, August 18th and the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2025 on Tuesday, August 19th. Check out our Gamescom 2025 Party Guide for more opportunities to network with industry peers this week.

Ahead of the show, we’re highlighting some of the top Devcom sessions for mobile developers below. We’ve also had a cheeky walk around the Koelnmesse to see who are the big names and games splashing the cash on promotions.

Devcom top picks

Day one of Devcom features the Mobile Track:

• 11:15 to 11:45 – Navigating the New Era of Mobile Games and Community Impact (Stage 2, Level 1)

  • Adam Smart, AppsFlyer
  • Sam Gaglani, Xsolla
  • Rafael Morgan, CrazyGames
  • Bob Slinn, FunPlus

• 11:45 to 12:15 – Cooking Up an Online Community: Catering Content to ALL your Fans (Stage 2 – Level 1)
  

• 12:15 to 12:45 – Pre-Registrations for Mobile Games: Lessons from the Launch of ‘Heroes of History’ (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 12:45 to 13:15 – The Invisible War Against Mobile Game Cheats – A Global Defense Perspective (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 13:15 to 14:15 – Lock, Load, and Lag: Overcoming Network Challenges in Mobile Shooters (Stage 2, Level 1)

  • Matej Vrba, Virtuos Labs Prague

• 15:15 to 15:45 – If You Don’t Mind Platform Fees, Why Bother With D2C (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 15:45 to 16:15 – How NOT to Make a New Mobile Game: 4 Years of Search (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 4:15 to 4:45 – Seizing the Mobile Market Shift: Why Act Now? (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 16:45 to 17:45 – 9 Seconds to Fun: How to Bring A 4th Generation RPG to the West (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 17:45 to 18:45 – 2026: The Breakthrough Year for Mobile Games? (Stage 2, Level 1)

  • Philomena Schwab, Stray Fawn Studio
  • Per Strömbäck, Dataspelsbranschen Swedish Games Industry
  • Christian Lövstedt, Midjiwan (Polytopia)
  • Hugo Obi, Maliyo Games
  • Mark Otero, Azra Games

Day two:

• 11:15 to 12:15 – Who Really Knows Best? Decision Traps in Live Game Development (Stage 10, Level 2)

  • Anna Sieprawska, InnoGames

• 12:15 to 13:15 – Community Clubhouse: Zero to One: The Game That Almost Wasn’t (Stage 15, Level 2)

  • Mark Otero, Azra Games
  • Ken Walton, Azra Games

• 14:15pm to 16:15pm – Community Clubhouse: Unlocking US Growth with Direct Monetization (Stage 15, Level 2)
  

  • Chip Thurston, FastSpring
  • Ben Williams, Level Up Collective
  • Maxim Kirilenko, Happy Faces Games

• 15:15 to 16:15 – 7 Big Shifts that Will Reshape Live Service Games by 2030 – (Stage 2, Level 1)
  

• 16:15 to 17:15 – Port Quest: Mobile Porting Q&A (Room E, Level 1)

  • Jakin Vela, IGDA
  • Jenny Xu, Talofa Games
  • Juliana Brito, Indie Hero
  • Sarah Thomson, Epic Games

• 17:15 to 18:15 – FLINTA* Meetup: Level Up Her Game – What Women in Games Can Do for You (Stage 8, Level 2)

  • Hind Toufga, Northify
  • Mafalda Duarte, Women in Games / IGDA
  • Melanya Laz, Elevatix
  • Maria Borys, Flying Wild Hog
  • Simay Dinc, Recontact Games / Women in Games TR

Check out all the sessions here.