MonteGames 2025 conference (October 17-18, 2025, Porto Montenegro, Dom Vojske, Tivat):
concept, program, speakers, and the Yugo Game Awards ceremony.
MonteGames 2026 has already been announced.
MonteGames is a non-profit two-day conference and community event for game developers and publishers from the Balkans and Europe. Organizers position the event as a “respite from the industry grind” with a focus on live meetings and deals without the hustle and bustle of the market; admission is free for professionals (registration required). The venue is Porto Montenegro (Dom Vojske Hall) in Tivat. The 2025 dates are October 17-18.
MonteGames’s core mission is to connect local creators (including indie) with international publishers, investment funds, and service companies (Raw Fury, Devolver Digital, King, Tilting Point, Owlcat, Nordeus, Xsolla, Wargaming, Ubisoft, and others were mentioned on the list). The format is essentially “matchmaking-free” and has no exhibition pavilions; instead, there are “boatside conversations” at Porto Montenegro and two main zones: the Executive Experience and the Indie Zone.
It’s worth noting that our friend Andrew Kravchuk presented his game and game studio in the Indie Zone.
The official opening on October 17th at 7:00 PM was accompanied by the Operosa performance.
The nine-person Starlight Group headed to Tivat! The drive to Tivat flew by almost unnoticed! Amidst conversations, laughter, and great music! Upon arrival, we checked into apartments, this time closer to the event venue! And they headed to registration, anticipating a spectacular opening, new acquaintances, and a great party!
Yugo Game Awards 2025.
The opening evening of MonteGames 2025 included the first-ever Yugo Game Awards ceremony—a ceremony honoring the best games from the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro) for 2024–2025. The ceremony took place on October 17th at Porto Montenegro.
Nominees (selected — main categories)
- Yugo Game of the Year (GOTY): The Talos Principle: Reawakened (Croteam), SCUM (Gamepires), Blacksmith Master (Untitled Studio), Dollmare (Alex Grade/gonzeek/Oxeren), The King Is Watching (Hypnohead/tinyBuild).
- Nominees were also announced in the categories of Best Art Direction, Best Solo Dev, Most Anticipated, and others.
⚠️ About the winners. As of October 21, 2025 (the date this material was prepared), the organizers are actively promoting the ceremony and its live stream offline and on social media, but an official list of winners has not been published on the website or in press releases. There are recordings and post-activity on social media (Instagram, YouTube), but no final list is available. We will update this material as soon as the organizer releases the official results.
Program and content: presentations, discussions, live demo
As of the close of the 2025 edition, a detailed agenda is provided on the event website in the form of a “skeleton” (zones/format, speaker list). Last year’s 2024 program provides a representative representation of the topics and formats (Unity 6, AAA production, multiplayer architecture, AI in games, UA growth, etc.). This is important because some of the same speakers/brands returned for 2025, and the track styles remained the same (technology, production, marketing/UA, localization, careers).
MonteGames 2025 Speakers (selection)
The official “Meet the Speakers – MonteGames 2025” page confirms the presence of a strong lineup of studio leaders, engine evangelists, and production/business practitioners. Below is a partial list from the public speaker directory:
- Jonas Antonsson (founder of Raw Fury).
- Rami Ismail (advisor to studios/projects in the games industry).
- Damir Durović (co-founder of Reboot Develop Blue).
- Mark Schoennagel and Mike Geig (Unity, evangelists).
- Mike Golubev (AWS, Tech Lead MEGS).
- Chris Petrovic (CBO & Board Chairman, FunPlus).
- Zorbey Canturk (Product Lead, King – Candy Crush).
- Aleksandar Šoškić (Senior PM, Nordeus – Top Eleven).
- Sergei Vasiuk (Product Director, Wargaming).
- Giulia Zamoni (Production Director, Stormind Games).
- Milos Milosavljević (Senior Technical Producer, People Can Fly).
- Batuhan Avuçan (founder of Mobidictum).
- Tadej Gregorčič (Co-founder, Coherence).
- Anastasia Lebedeva / Marina Lekhina (Allcorrect – localization).
- Anders Lauridsen (creator of SKALD).
- Ana Krstajic Petrushka Chord On The Importance Of Music
- Zakhar Shlimakou Playsense Emotional Marketing In Gaming
- Nikola Soskic & Aleksa Jeremic Shosha Games 0 – 100.000 Organic Wishlists
- Aleksandar Soskic Norderus Mastering Ftue
- Zorbey Canturk King Metagame: Designing The Game Outside The Game
- Marko Otasevic & Tin Zupancic Turing Studio How We Wanted To Turn Dooh Ads Into Games
- Iuliia Ignatenko Playkot Are You Sure It Is My Job?
- Milutin Pavicevic, Zuno Games: How Ai Is Revolutionizing Educational Game Development
And some of the announced talks/case studies:
- Zakhar Shlimakou — PlaySense: Emotional Marketing in Gaming
- Nikola Soskic & Aleksa Jeremic (Shosha Games) — 0 → 100,000 Organic Wishlists
- Zorbey Canturk (King) — Metagame: Designing the Game Outside the Game
Results:
- Community reach and free registration: free-to-attend policy (for professionals), focus on meetings with publishers/funds, and a “family” format (Family Package).
- Industry composition: speaker list includes founders and leads from Raw Fury, Unity, King, FunPlus, Wargaming, Coherence, Mobidictum, Nordeus, and others; this creates a density of decision-making per unit of time.
- Image effect for the region: MonteGames creates a “red carpet” for the ecosystem (the first edition of the Yugo Game Awards) and positions Porto Montenegro as a European-level platform for game development.
- Media presence: announcements and coverage were published on Porto Montenegro’s websites and industry platforms (Kongres Magazine, Conventa); Active Instagram/LinkedIn campaigns were underway, as was the official ceremony livestream.
MonteGames 2026 Early Bird listings and a list of participating companies have already been published on the main page; the location is Montenegro, and the format and zones remain the same. This confirms the continuity and plans to expand the event into 2026.
Conclusion
MonteGames has cemented itself as the center of gravity of Balkan game development: a strong list of speakers and partner companies, a new regional “Oscar”—the Yugo Game Awards—free registration for professionals, and a “deliberately intimate” format at the premium Porto Montenegro location. At the time of publication, the organizer had not yet released the formal list of Yugo Game Awards 2025 winners in a final press release, but the nominations, ceremony, and official stream have been confirmed. For regional studios, this is a long-awaited stage of recognition, and for investors and publishers, a convenient entry point into the ecosystem.
Many thanks to the organizers! And Milos Scepanovic 🔜 MonteGames especially!
