Aug 13, 2025

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 turns out that nowadays "candy-flavored cocaine" is, indeed, a thing – imagine that.

The same idea, but in the world of video games – so wrong that it's obvious from the get-go – would be what, a Peppa Pig-themed casino game? Well, guess what, there's apparently such a thing as Peppa's Perfect Day at the Tsogo Sun Casino, and I don't even want to think about the legal complications around it.

Compared to that, the majority of the games industry has it easy: this year's panels on repealing addiction claims and on complaint engagement of minors are two separate talks, happening on two different days. Yay!

And with this, welcome to the second digest of news related to the upcoming Summit X – helping you make the most of this community event. Today we have another dozen of news items.

1. Welcome Center

I need to issue one correction for the announcement of the Welcome Center for the first-time attendees: as noted before, it will be open on September 2, Tuesday, 14:00 to 16:00 at Hotel PACAI, just that instead of beer we're going to serve kombucha (0%) and Campari Soda (shown above with the orange lanyards of the first-time attendees). Apparently we sourced a couple of boxes of these, because their color matches the Summit's colors so well – but then I forgot about it.

If you're one of the 90 counsels who will come to the Summit for the first time, and you're in town by that time already – please stop by, get your attendee bags, and meet a bunch of other great people, before the Reception kicks off.

2. Summit T-shirts

We have ordered 85 t-shirts with the Summit's key art on the back. The message on the front is inspired by the Herbalife's craze, when you couldn't get on a subway in Moscow without meeting someone with a pin that said "Lose weight now! Ask me now." This t-shirt's front says: GET COMPLIANT NOW | ASK ME HOW.

The good news is that this is the best quality that we've produced so far, as illustrated by this specimen –

The bad news is that it costs a fortune to produce such quality on the smaller scale, and it is reflected in the price. The shirts will be available for purchase, while the supplies last, from the Summit's Camper (you can also reserve them ahead of the event by emailing Alma).

3. Summit x Zambartas – πρωμάρα

At the Opening Reception, as well as throughout the conference, we will serve the indigenous grape from Cyprus, promara (πρωμάρα), bottled by Zambartas especially for the event. Five of these magnums can be also found in the loot boxes of The Red Wolf Roulette. It makes me very happy that we're able to offer you something special, and that we are able to coordinate the whole process directly with the people who grow the grapes and bottle the wine.

4. Summit x Asemi Co. – anniversary cups

Yuki Ishiguro at Asemi Co. sent us the most recent photos of the cups that are closer to what the final product is like than the first iterations I've shown before, and we also released a Q&A with him about their passion for traditional Japanese crafts. At this time, we have 75 sets available. You can pre-order now or check them out at the Camper (if any are still around).

5. Summit x Yolanda's Chocolatiers

If you attended the conference during the last two years, you may know that each presenter gets a small box of Belgian chocolates as a "thank you".

Because this time the Summit celebrates its anniversary, we decided to give a box of chocolates to each and every attendee. For this, we collaborated with Egli Stamatiou at Yolanda's Chocolatiers over in Nicosia, Cyprus (as you may have noticed, we love Cyprus) to create a custom box with 6 bonbons (peanut/banana, raspberry, pistachio, almond, salted caramel and passion fruit).

You will find the box inside of your attendee bags (a few more boxes will be included in some of the loot box categories).

6. Super Pass initiative 2025

This year's Super Pass project saw us planting a carob tree dedicated to each holder of such pass (in Cyprus, where else?) – here's the gallery about how it went with the first 100 trees. As of today, we have 136 Super Passes, and this means more planting in September. Thanks to everyone who supported the initiative, and especially to the whole team over at 🇨🇾 Chrysostomides.

7. The Red Wolf Roulette – Bitmap Books

Among the prizes locked in the loot boxes of The Red Wolf Roulette (those rules, as we were told, would be illegal in several jurisdictions – living dangerously, huh!) are the treasures published by Bitmap Books:

Remember, this year it's about the authentic player experience: you can pay (in chips) for the specific level of the loot box, but you cannot select what you're getting – unless you're paying twice the price (in chips).

I have a nagging suspicion that it will be the Smoking Areas, that are bound to turn into the community trading spots – we'll see!

8. Eminente Gran Reserva

Today saw the final stage of a project that took us a few months: sourcing a drink that sends a message both in quality and in concept, for the strong drinks station. The boxes have arrived to Vilnius, sent by a French distributor from their German logistics hub.

You may recall that last year, we served Colombian rum (🇨🇴 La Hechicera, thanks to the discovery via Jorge Bedoya) as well as the 🇵🇱 Polish vodka + 🇱🇻 Latvian cranberry juice of direct pressing.

In 2025, the vodka/cranberry combination returns (including a 0% version), while the other drink changes to what is the best rum that we were able to source so far: 🇨🇺 Eminente Gran Reserva from Cuba. For us, it touches on the topic of sanctions (hello, trade embargo) as well as regional authenticity.

Picture yourself at this year's Summit: drinking the rum from Cuba, playing the roulette... getting a loot box with something that you don't really want, and thus having to meet new people for a trade... 🤪. Anyways, for what it's worth, this rum is quite something, with or without the roulette chips. Available while the supplies last, both at the Opening Reception, and throughout the whole event.

9. Liberated from Alcohol

At every step of the Summit this year, we're matching the alcohol options with their 0% versions. This includes a plenty of kombucha, a 0% blanc de blancs sparkling from Odd Bird, draft 0% beer and two types each of white and red wines from Odd Bird from their "liberated from alcohol" series.

We also secured boxes of the best sparkling tea that we could source: Saicho.

Please consult the drinks menu for the options, and do not hesitate to ask the staff for additional details on anything you're interested in.

10. Miller Thomson x Summit

The team at Miller Thomson decided to mark the anniversary edition of the conference with a special, super-limited run of licensed caps from Montréal Canadiens. The caps have the firm's logo, the logo of the NHL team (of course) and...

...the reference to Summit X on the side. I am going to hold to my own cap for sure, and if you're a friend or a client of Philipp Park – you know what to do 😉.

11. Studio Counsels on Stage

One thing that we're thrilled about in 2025, is the record level of engagement of studios in this year's program. Since the early days, we aimed for a balanced mix of the law firm experts and the in-house counsels – we managed to achieve it first in attendance, and now, among the speakers as well.

During the two days of the program, you'll see on stage the counsels from 11 bit studios, CD PROJEKT RED, Discord, Epic Games, Gaijin Entertainment, KRAFTON, Playrix, Roblox, Scopely, SYBO, Take-Two Interactive, Valve and Wargaming, as well as from Video Games Europe (with a few more currently in approvals).

This sets the stage for a discussion that's grounded in practical experience, with a realistic look at the challenges. We're very thankful to all the teams, and the individual counsels, who have agreed to share their expertise with the community.

12. Relay Race Sign-Ups

Morning Run at Summit IX in Vilnius (2024)

Now that you have seen some of the prizes available through the tricky loot box system of The Red Wolf Roulette, it's time to ask yourself: how does one get more chips?

each attendee starts with 5
each speaker gets 5 extra
one member of the audience at the end of each session will score 5 more, when they answer the quiz from the session's lead
you can also count on 5 extra if your birthday falls on the days of the event and you can prove this to Alma (national IDs and passports accepted)

Of course, the system pushes you towards the roulette table, where luck may turn in your favor (or not). But do you know who else gets extra chips, without any roll of the wheel?

Each runner on the top-3 finishing teams of the Relay Race on September 3, that's who! Imagine that: not only the satisfaction of an early morning run, but also the pleasantly heavy feeling of holding a small stack of red ceramic chips in your hand.

The registration for the Relay Race is still open: please use the sign-up form here.

And that's all for today.

See you next week – when we'll publish the agenda (the first panel, on DFA, is already announced; 12 more to follow).

Sergei / Charlie Oscar