10 things about Summit XI

This is issue 1 out of 3 that are dedicated to the practical matters of the upcoming Summit XI in Berlin. Each issue is made of 10 things that will either help you make the most of the event, or will highlight something that you may not know yet.

(1/10) Monday's Drinks on the Roof

A bit over 100 attendees will be already in Berlin on Monday afternoon. To avoid GDC-style atomization, we've asked all the firms in the community not to run any separate events, but rather to come mingle in one space: KPM Hotel & Residences Rooftop Bar and Penthouse Studio.

The open air space can take up to 100 guests. The penthouse space (split between "studio" and "bar") can take another 100 – so there should be enough place for everyone. Inside, there's plenty of corners to sit down and have a conversation, and there's even a fireplace –

While the Penthouse area has its own bar, the food will come from the Vietnamese restaurant downstairs. We've asked the hotel to focus on offering plates that can be shared, and eaten with convenience (such as spring rolls). They also say that the wine list, by the bottle, is pretty broad (this photo is from my last visit, before KPM's new F&B manager stepped in; I hope there's less Tullamore Dew and more Monkey 47 by now 🙈).

If you're in town on Monday, we hope that you meet both and old and new friends here. The hotel's reception will be able to tell you how exactly to get to the roof. On June 1, the space is open from 16:00 through 01:00.

The stairs you see in the photo below, are the stairs that connect the rooftop area with the penthouse bar and studio:

Finally, we bring a Taylor acoustic guitar to the conference, so if you're in on Monday and you feel like playing on the roof – you can pick it up from me or Alma (more on music – below).

(2/10) Both hotels are fully booked now

From September 2025, we opened the KPM Hotel & Residences bookings at the special event rates – and by this spring all of the 172 rooms were sold out. For the days of the Summit, the hotel is 100% dedicated to the conference crowd (in case you wanted to discuss a court case at breakfast, or curse a colleague in an elevator 😉).

As there are always a few last-minute cancellations, Alma runs a waitlist for the rooms that may become available. At the moment, it has 20 people on it. When a room becomes available, we offer it to the person who signed up for this list the earliest.

While we were not able to arrange any special rates with the second hotel around the venue – B&B Tiergarten, just 300 meters away – we still recommended it to attendees as a second option, and it is now also fully booked. We have no waitlist there (because even basic communication with this place is a challenge 😶‍🌫️), so we have no way of catching whatever rooms may become available due to cancellations.

➡️ If you attend Summit On Tour IV in 🇵🇹 Porto later in the year: we just agreed on the special rates with two 5-tar hotels within 300 meters of the venue, and we expect a situation similar to Berlin: by mid-summer, both of them will be sold out (the special rates are 20% below the season's rate, too). Please talk to Alma to get the codes and the links, as formal announcement is coming only later on.

(3/10) No pick-ups or drop-offs

We've been getting a few emails from PAs here and there about pick-ups and drop-offs. We do not offer these in Berlin, as, just like Rome, it's a big city with plenty of options. The option I normally use is taking a subway to one of the central stations, and then a walk; the same works for departures (not as great if you have heavier luggage; and please be mindful of the somewhat chaotic train schedules, this is not Switzerland or Italy). A taxi from BER to KPM costs about €60; they take credit cards, and will issue you a hand-written receipt when requested.

(4/10) Practice Run & Relay Race

As of now, 129 attendees signed up to the running club. Two things are happening in a coordinated fashion (and the rest is up to individual groups):

Practice Run

On Tuesday, June 2, Andy Ramos and Evelina Georgiades will lead a practice run. The group departs from the main entrance of KPM at 09:00 and expects to be back by 10:30. If you may wish to finish this run early, bring your mobile so that you can easily find your way home.

Relay Race

On Wednesday, June 3, the main dish is served: the 3rd edition of the Summit's Relay Race! We run in teams of 6, with each person running 550 meters twice (with a break). The top 3 teams get extra red chips!

Important: you need to sign up, and get a team assigned, to participate – please use the form here. Each team selects a name, and a color; participants listed by nicknames; coordination through the captains. At the time of this writing, we have 4 full teams already assembled, with such runners as Teleport, Matador, Honey Bee and Freddy Barbarossa. Deadline for sign-ups: EOD GMT May 25.

(5/10) The timeline is now online

The timeline of the conference is now online, here. We'll also have the foldable printed agendas available across the courtyard.

Breakfast Bar

Every day of the program has a Breakfast Bar scheduled for 08:00 to 10:00. Ernestas at Tealure, our tea master whom you may know from Vilnius, is coming to Berlin to serve you his teas. And for coffees, we engaged the local roaster, Berlin-based The Barn.

Starting times

On each day, the sessions start at 10:00 (a few years ago we started earlier on one of the days, but that proved to be counter-intuitive).

Lunches

Both lunch breaks are 90 minutes, to allow the time for food and for conversations. This time the food stations will have screens with the photo and the description of the dish, and icons for meat/fish/veggies.

Coffee Breaks

Whenever two sessions are next to each other, there's a 15 minute coffee break between them. In the afternoons, in addition to teas and coffees, beer and kombucha are also on offer. For beers, we engaged the Berlin-based brewer FUERST WIACEK. For kombucha, the Berlin-based brewery ROY Kombucha.

(6/10) Sessions

Each day has 6 sessions scheduled. 7 sessions are 60 min, the rest are 45 min.

SIDE A (Day One)

United by Problems, Divided by Solutions
Tracing Global Regulatory Trends

Plaintiffs Spawned
The Rise of Class Action Around Video Games

Of Game Changers and Moving Targets
How US Courts and Regulators have Changed the Global Game Recently

Really Just a Number?
Age Assurance in Video Games

Sealing the Leaks
Crisis Management in Games Industry

End of Disclosure or Countdown to Extinction
Discovery in Conflicts

SIDE B (Day Two)

Licensed, Unlicensed, Inspired
Managing IP Across Deals, Mods, and Drift

Out of Sync
In-Game Music, PROs, Labels & Licensing

Players First
Navigating Towards Defensible Solutions

Aiming for Global Compliance
Language, Priorities, Decisions

Sociable, But Not Social Media
Regulating Connected Gameplay On Its Own Terms

Game Over?
How Games Die, Scale Down, and Persist

(7/10) Session details and interviews

This is a new feature: we've moved the description of all the sessions away from the timeline (less clutter) and into their own page: here.

In the last few weeks, we published interviews with each session's leads, where we asked them about further context of their panels. These Q&As are linked from the page above – so that you can now not only read about what, say, Ryan and Maya plan to cover on their "Licensed, Unlicensed, Inspired" session, but also check what they think about the current state of cross-media licensing, especially when video games are concerned.

(8/10) Music after hours

One of the attendees asked if KPM has a piano on-site, so that those who know how to play, may give it a try after hours. And while KPM does not have a piano, this lead us to check what options we may offer – in the end, we got a Taylor acoustic guitar (made in Mexico, by the way), and will also borrow a small Roland piano that we will make available on stage during both Opening and Closing Receptions, as well as during the Industry Dinner.

The sound crew is under instructions to set this up for use (we bring a stand, a DI box, a tuner, and a few other things). And just in case you're after some transcriptions to rely on, we've got something there:

We encourage those of you who play, to road-test this; perhaps it's a good feature for all the future editions as well.

(9/10) Industry Dinner

The 3-course sit-down Industry Dinner, traditionally scheduled on the first day of the program (June 3), will combine the experience of Limassol and Vilnius: starters are shared, while the mains and the deserts are individual.

The seating is organized by the type of food indicated on your application: to access the dinner area, you will need your ticket; once in, please proceed to the tables that have your ticket's color (if you want to change your food preference, you can do this until Friday, May 22 – send us an email).

As the dinner happens in the same location as the sessions, we will need 1 hour to set up the tables; from 18:00 to 19:00 on June 3, KPM's courtyard will be off limits (use this time to change, or go up to the rooftop bar for a glass of wine).

Speaking of wines, we continue to work with Zambartas in Cyprus and Valenciso in Spain, both of whom were kind enough to ship us magnums with custom labels. The promara (πρωμάρα) is from the harvest of 2025; the Rioja is a reserva from 2019. We're very happy that we can spend this part of the budget directly with the winemakers, building the conference's relationship with the very people who grow their own grapes, and create these wines.

(10/10) Enamel pins

As before, we manufactured a limited series of 300 enamel pins for this edition of the Summit. The design is a replica of the flag from the key art. These pins (as well as the classic wolf design) are available free of charge from the registration desk, while the supplies last.

And that's it for today!

In the next issue: the Summit's Social Game (rules and prize fund), Speaker Perks (there's a new feature this year, for the leads), details on award ceremonies, and how we ended up moving away from paper cups for teas and coffees.

– sergei –