The External Development Summit is the game industry’s dedicated conference for outsourcing and co-development relationships — the natural home for studios like Kevuru Games to meet publishers actively seeking external art and production partners.
On September 7-9, 2022, Kevuru Games took part in the External Development Summit in Vancouver, Canada. For the first time since 2019, this international games industry event was held in person.
About External Development Summit
Established in 2013, the External Development Summit (XDS) is a dedicated annual international game industry event focusing on external development for 2D and 3D art and animation, audio, software development, quality control, and localization.
XDS attracts hundreds of participants from over 45 countries to promote the practice of external development for the gaming industry. The event traditionally takes place in Vancouver, Canada. However, in 2020 and 2021, it was conducted online to ensure the safety of visitors in accordance with government restrictions regarding COVID-19.
The key components of the event are:
- Sessions and discussions. Speakers from well-known companies such as EA, Apple, Ubisoft, and others share their experience and expertise and talk about their case studies, innovative tools, pipelines, best communication and management practices, etc.
- Expo. Event attendees can participate in the exhibition to draw attention to their services and get to know colleagues and potential customers.
- Charitable donations. Each year, XDS provides an annual charitable donation to an organization that aligns with the goals and values of the event.
XDS 2022 marked a turning point: the first in-person return since 2019, and Kevuru Games showed up as a partner rather than just an attendee. What makes the External Development Summit stand apart from broader game industry events is how narrow it stays on purpose.
A show like GDC or gamescom covers publishing, marketing, and player-facing news across the whole industry. XDS does not try to. It is built specifically around external development: art, animation, audio, engineering, QA, and localization, the same disciplines an outsourcing partner actually gets hired for. That focus is what turns it into a real game outsourcing conference rather than a general networking event, and it is exactly why Kevuru Games treats XDS as a fixture rather than a one-off appearance.
About Kevuru Games
Kevuru Games is a game development outsourcing company with over a decade of experience creating game art and developing games for PC and mobile devices. Our greatest strength is our love for games and our work, which is why we are meticulous and dedicated at every stage of game development, from concept to release.
With a high level of professionalism, a well-established workflow, and a solid track record, our team has become a trusted partner for many of the world’s top developers: EA, Epic Games, Lucasfilm, and more. Our motto is to create beyond the limits, and we are always happy to see how the results of our work make the game world brighter.
Feel free to contact us; we will help you figure out all the nuances and bring your idea to life in the best possible way.
Update: In 2023, we attended XDS again.
