Spilbar 69: SPLASH!

SPLASH!

Date: 3/12-2026Time: 16-20Location: The National Film School of Denmark - CinemaTheodor Christensens Plads 1, 1437 KBH K.

As 2026 comes to a close, we want to look back at the year and ahead to the next. At SpilBar 69, we’ll take stock of the games released this year and get a first look at what’s coming in 2027.

Four Danish studios will join us to talk about their 2026 launches, sharing how things went and what they learned along the way.

After that, the stage is open. If you have a game coming out in 2027, you’re welcome to come up and present it.

Join us at The National Film School to celebrate what we’ve achieved and see what the Danish games industry has in store for next year. See you there!

OPEN CALL FOR 2027 GAME RELEASES

Do you have a game scheduled for 2027 and want to present & showcase it? Submit it at our wonderful Open Call below! Your game needs to be scheduled for release in 2027, and you will get a maximum of 5 minutes, including a trailer, to showcase your game on the stage.

Please submit your upcoming game using this form https://forms.gle/peS9VWyig6C3kL1u9 - no later than November 30th.

Program

16:30 Welcome - Thomas Vigild (DADIU)

16:35 It's not all fun’n games… (Hakan Abrak, CEO at IO Interactive)

The brutal sports of AAA indie development.

16:55 Searching for the missing pieces of Death Howl (Lasse Sommer & Rasmus Mølck Nilsson, The Outer Zone)

In this talk, we reflect on the design of Death Howl and, through concrete examples, explore how we found new possibilities in existing mechanics and used them to elevate the game’s combat without breaking the budget.

17:15 Short Break

17:30 Who’s Driving? Balancing open-ended play and narrative in our kids’ game Fungi

Fungi is a cosy nature play world, a place for kids to wander, poke around, and make their own fun. But we also wanted to tell a story. In this talk, I share what we learned from trying to do both: leaving room for open-ended play while still guiding kids toward a story. I’ll also look at what it means to make a kids’ game at a time when many parents are rightly concerned about screen time.

17:50 Forgotlings — Did We Forget Something? (Alfred Nguyen, Creative Director at Throughline Games)

How do you bring a world of forgotten objects to life as a game? Alfred Nguyen of Throughline Games talks about the development and launch of Forgotlings, the follow-up to indie darling Forgotton Anne, in 2026.

Drawing on the work of creating the game’s hand-drawn world, characters, and story, he shares lessons from the road to a turbulent release: the creative choices, the priorities along the way, and meeting the players. A look behind the scenes of a Danish indie adventure and the lessons the team is taking forward.

18:10 Quick-fire presentations: Upcoming games in 2027

Short max 5 min presentations/trailers.

Please submit your upcoming game using this form https://forms.gle/peS9VWyig6C3kL1u9 - no later than November 30th.

Then you will get time on stage and presence at the live showcases during mingling.

18:30 News & Announcements

18:40 Mingling & Live showcases of games

20:00 Good night and goodbye

BIOS

Hakan Abrak

Hakan Abrak is the CEO and Co-Owner of IO Interactive, the Danish studio behind the Hitman franchise and 007 First Light. With over two decades in the gaming industry, Hakan has played key roles as a Producer on Glacier (IOI's proprietary engine), Senior Multiplayer Producer on Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Executive Producer on Hitman Absolution, Studio Production Director on Hitman (2016), before becoming CEO and Co-owner of IO Interactive for the launches of HITMAN 2, and HITMAN 3, helping guide the series’ evolution. Hakan is also the game director for 007 First Light, which is both IO Interactive's fastest selling game, as well as its highest rated game to date. Under Hakan’s leadership, IO Interactive became independent, expanded globally with studios in Copenhagen, Malmö, Barcelona, and Brighton.

Lasse Sommer

Lasse is a self-taught game developer, artist, and game-designer with 15 years of experience, specialising in pixel art. Most recently, he worked as an artist and designer on the award-winning Death Howl. With a background in comparative literature and music, he brings a broad creative perspective to game development, working across disciplines to shape a game’s vision and its smallest details. His main interest is finding that spark of originality and following it through hands-on experimentation.

Rasmus Mølck Nilsson

Rasmus is the co-creator of the award-winning games Death Howl and Mind Scanners, where he served as Technical Lead, Game Designer, and Sole Programmer. Exploring the intersection of technology and design, he strives to create memorable games with deep mechanics and strong themes. Rasmus has a background in mathematics, computer science, and music, and has previously worked at Kiloo and Alinea.

Alfred Nguyen

Alfred is the founder and Creative Director of Throughline Games, the studio behind Forgotton Anne and Forgotlings. With a background in animated film, he works to bring visual storytelling, characters, and interactivity together in story-driven games.

Maiken Nysom

Maiken is a Partner and Creative Director at Fuzzy House, where she works on all aspects of designing fun, engaging kids’ games from the first concept to the final game design and visual identity.

About SpilBarSince 2010, SpilBar has gathered professionals interested in and around the games industry for talks and mingling. The talks are always based around ideas worth spreading and meant to be inspirational and always in a format that is open to everyone. The talks are always followed by time to meet and mingle.SpilBar is curated by Helena Sokol (Games Denmark), Simon Løvind (NIMBI) & Thomas Vigild (DADIU).The SpilBar format was developed by Interactive Denmark, Thomas Vigild and Kristine Ploug.

SpilBar is sponsored by Spilordningen / NIMBI and Games Denmark.