Sergei Klimov

File under 2025

The year is almost over – I hope it was a good one for you, guys! For a lot of people in the community, it turned out to be quite difficult. Not so much due to the grind (which comes with the job), but because of the external factors affecting the

Summit XI: The Making Of

In the last few years, we commission a new piece of key art for each of the editions of the Summit – to reflect its mood and theme. Here's how we arrived at the cover of Summit XI, scheduled to run in Berlin in June 2026 – which you will

Summit X: the gallery is here!

Ladies and gentlemen, the full gallery from Summit X is now publicly available, with 970 photos by the one and only Simas Bernotas. It represents our best work (so far!), and tells the story of the 3 days in Vilnius from the different aspects that this conference has evolved to

RADAR: tax on violent games, decisions on Epic, studio jobs

We just wrapped the 10th edition of the Summit in Vilnius (wipes a tear). If you missed the live reporting – here's Day One and Day Two. And here's the Red Carpet gallery. The full report from the event is still in the works, and is expected

Summit: Celebrating 10 Years

We're less than 24 hours away from the Opening Reception for Summit X: a good time to remember how we got to serving vanilla ice cream dipped in melted chocolate on the spot, and to having deep dive sessions with 6 counsels on stage and 20+ more contributing

Summit X: FAQ

The Summit notebooks have just arrived from Riga (it's another manufacturer with whom we work directly, putting a part of your registration fees right into the hands of the people who make the goods), and given that the coffee from Colombia and the rum from Cuba are already

Summit X: juste une semaine

Today, the weather in Vilnius is miserable: as wet as the tears of an indie team failing to rack up wishlists after announcement, as cold as the response of a publisher to the idea that the developer wants to retain the game's trademark. But in a week, we

Summit X: two weeks to start

Good morning, sky! Good morning, sun! Good morning, counsels who run! Good morning, trees! Good morning, bees! Good morning devcom attendees! How did you find out it was day? Your Deutsche Bahn was late again? We salute the community members who are this week in Cologne, at devcom / VGBA Euro

Summit X: News of the World

Many years ago we localized a game where we needed to come up with an item that was obviously both illegal and immoral, and we ended up inventing "orange-flavored cocaine": not just an illegal substance, but also geared towards minors. I just did a quick search, and it

Summit X: four weeks to start

12 news items about the upcoming Summit X: a bit of stats, a glimpse at a few things in production, and an overview of the agenda.

Summit X: Super Pass Project

A long time ago, at one of the Summits, I had a conversation with Jas Purewal about the impact of our individual actions. A single trip made on a bike instead of a car is nothing special, but when 27% of all journeys happen by bikes in the Netherlands, it

The Rome Gallery / The Carob Tree Project

Welcome to the long-form newsletter of the Summit, powered by Ghost – a paid open source platform that doesn't turn its subscribers and readers into a product; a commitment that we, here at Charlie Oscar, also share. Our conference is built and operated for the benefit of the legal

🇮🇹 Summit On Tour III: stats, takeaways & speakers

With 275 registrations from 36 countries (271 actual attendee bags pick ups), Summit On Tour III became the biggest conference in this format that we've organized so far.

🇮🇹 Summit On Tour III : FAQ

In a few days, the 3rd edition of Summit On Tour starts in Rome. Perhaps you arrive a bit earlier, perhaps you stay a bit longer – I hope that your trip proves to be a combination of professional insights and personal experience. In this issue, we talk about how to

🇮🇹🏃‍♀️ Running in Rome

If you attend Summit On Tour III in Rome and appreciate a bit of exercise in addition to all the learning and catching up, I have good news for you: 32% of the attendees signed up for the Morning Runs, and that makes 90 runners. Of course, some will get

🏆 LC VIII – results & reflections

Good morning, people! I'm here to report on the results of our little moot court (well, not so little anymore!) – and to announce the 4 teams that made it to the semifinals, and thus secured their admission to Summit X in Vilnius. Fast Track to the Games Industry

🇮🇹 Ci vediamo a Roma?

Rome is the city that puts things into perspective: the techno-oligarchs who failed to stage a fight at the Coliseum will be long gone, cursed by their own children, while the Coliseum will remain where it is. Had the management of Ubisoft walked the ancient cobbled streets of Rome more

UPDATE to version 2025

The new year is here (at least for the part of our studio's team that's based in Japan): a good time to talk about moving talent, seeing the wine sales fall off the cliff and update on the conferences that we plan in the newly minted

Legal Challenge VIII is ON!

We're happy to report that the latest edition of Legal Challenge is now officially open, and arrives with a big new feature: storyline.

LEGAL RADAR: Chile & Colombia – Markets, Industry & Regulation

With our regional experts, José and Jorge, we explore the current state of the games industry in Chile and Colombia: the consumer markets, the industry clusters, and the regulation that's relevant to video games.

Summit IX: Roundup

As Keanu Reeves once told the audience at an E3 presser, "You're all breathtaking!". This sentiment is firmly shared by our hotel and service partners: to them, the Summit's attendees are remarkably different from the visitors who come for other kinds of conferences, whether

🇱🇹 Summit IX – Action Points

This is the last issue of the long-form newsletter before the conference kicks off tomorrow. Check if you're up to date on the action points below, and if you have a minute while in transit – here's a pretty awesome article on AI and creativity, by Ted

🇱🇹 Summit IX – Food & Drinks

This is a bonus issue dedicated to weather, food and drinks at the conference. For Summit's agenda, go here. PSA: from today, as our ops team goes into overdrive, please reply on WhatsApp / Telegram / Signal to reach us when needed; email access is going to be sporadic. Weather

🇱🇹 Summit IX – Attendee Package & Social Game

This is the second of the three pre-conference issues of the newsletter. In the previous issue, we discussed this year's attendee numbers and the agenda. Today, we will talk about the attendee package and the Summit's Social Game. In the next issue, scheduled for Monday, September

🇱🇹 Summit IX – Attendees & Agenda

In 2024, we expect 343 attendees from 47 countries, representing over 200 studios and law firms. Here's the list of 12 sessions that 53 speakers will deliver over the two days of the conference.

📸 On Tour II: stats & photos

Summit On Tour II became our 10th professional conference. In this issue, we talk about how it came to be, publish the stats and link to the event's photo gallery. We also ponder on the subject of what makes our community special.

All about Summit On Tour II, and other community news

This issue muses about what makes conferences useful, announces the winners of Legal Challenge VII – and outlines what to expect at Summit On Tour II in Limassol.

On Tour II is a month away: the what, the why and the how

Summit On Tour II offers 14 panels with 50+ speakers, on topics that vary from litigation to regulation. With 220 registrations from 42 different countries, this will be our biggest On Tour event thus far.

On Tour II / LC VII updates

Good morning, wherever you are! In today's issue, we catch up on the conference news, confirm the program, and announce the preliminary results of Legal Challenge VII, where 4 teams have progressed to the oral pleadings (and we have a few surprises). We also look in more detail

🇨🇾 On Tour II – Running Club

All the details that you need to know, about the Morning Runs at Summit On Tour II in April 2024 in Limassol.

Legal Challenge VII is open: Clarity Frames vs Fungaming

This year's story is about Clarity Frames, a tools developer with a strong position in the games industry, that changes the terms of its licensing agreement – and runs into a problem with Fungaming, a global games studio with offices around the world.

Summit VIII – Speaker Awards, feedback and equality

We're pleased to announce the top three sessions of the Summit 2023, and the presenters that gathered the most votes from the audience.

Summit VIII – The Game is On!

Welcome to Vilnius, and welcome to the 8th edition of the Summit – the game is on! We're humbled to host 312 attendees from 49 countries, representing over 200 studios and law firm offices. What an amazing community! Here's last-minute changes, and a few details to keep

Summit VIII – Agenda

Summit 2023: an overview of the agenda, and a few words about the community time at the event.

EVENTS: On Tour 2023 – Speaker Awards & Photos

Facts about Summit on Tour 2023 in Warsaw, list of winners of the Speaker Awards, some special moments – and a link to the official photo gallery from the event.

EVENTS: On Tour 2023 about to start in Warsaw

Details about Summit on Tour 2023 in Warsaw, so that those who attend can better plan their visit – and those considering future events, can get a better idea of the format of the event.

FEATURE: Preparing for litigation in the games industry

Katya Nemova & Philipp Behrendt discuss the increasing risk of product liability, consumer claims and class action suits in the games industry in Europe, and how studios can prevent, prepare and manage such cases.

FEATURE: Artificial Intelligence & Games Industry

Katya Nemova & Luca Guidobaldi discuss the ways in which the current crop of AI tools already affects the games industry, and identify the challenges faced by the studios when addressing these issues.

FEATURE: Trade Sanctions & Games Industry

Sergei Klimov & Leonard von Rummel talk about sanctions in the context of the games industry: what sanctions are – how they apply to the studios in the industry – and in which areas of business games companies are most likely to encounter issues with compliance.

Thanks for all the fish, 2022

It's time to wrap the year, my friends. Recently, I saw an interview with a person who found himself in the middle of the war in Serbia, sheltering at a local monastery for a while. When he asked the monks about the perspective on all the troubles befalling

Legal Challenge, Summit 2023 and embracing the open source

Welcome to newsletter #98! With this issue, we switch to a new engine: the open source platform Ghost that uses the old-school pay-to-use model, without any ads. We look forward to using its extended features as we try provide entertainment the brief period between your visits to Vilnius. If you&