Game Developers Conference (GDC) is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Latest News

GDC Vault Adds Ngmoco, Moshi Monsters Emerging Market Lectures

May 3, 2010

Continuing their Game Developers Conference 2010 free video lecture series, show organizers have debuted well-received lectures on social/free to play games by Ngmoco's Neil Young and Moshi Monsters' Michael Acton Smith.
The two new lectures, both highly rated by GDC attendees, are part of a free bi-weekly update published at the GDC Vault website, and feature video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.
Firstly, organizers are presenting Neil Young's Business & Management Track keynote from GDC 2010, 'Things to Unlearn Moving From Traditional Development to the New Digital World'. Young, who is CEO & founder of iPhone/iPad centric publisher/developer ngmoco (TouchPets, We Rule, Rolando) "talks candidly about the challenges that traditional game developers face" in this new market.
Young, who was previously a long-time EA executive (Majestic) discusses "transitioning from long development cycles, packaged goods and the one time sale to the essential new models of games as a service, virtual goods, data driven design & minimum viable products" in this highly-rated GDC lecture.

2010 GDC Canada Adds Dragon Age, Entis, Other Notable Talks

April 26, 2010

As GDC Canada nears, organizers have added key lectures for the May 6th-7th Vancouver event, including a BioWare duo on Dragon Age and former EA exec and current VC Glenn Entis on funding for game developers.
These confirmations come on the heels of already-announced emerging market lectures from Zynga and Diner Dash creator Nick Fortugno, and other recently debuted talks from Obsidian, Blizzard, Telltale, and Blue Castle Games execs and creators.
The new set of lectures round out a major program of events at the Vancouver, Canada-based show which include lectures on console and emerging markets. Some of the top new talks include:
- 'Bringing Dragon Age to Life - Digital Actors in an Epic RPG' features BioWare's lead animator Clove Roy and lead character artist Shane Hawco who will "provide an in-depth look in how to tell a huge complex story through an interactive narrative, complete with hundreds of emotionally engaging digital actors" for the Canadian-developed hit title Dragon Age: Origins.
- In 'Funding for Game Developers - Do's and Don'ts', Vanedge Capital co-founder Glenn Entis, formerly CTO of Electronic Arts and now running a game-focused VC fund, will give "an overview of what it takes to fund a young company or game development studio."

GDC Online Calls For Submissions For 2010 Event

April 22, 2010

2010 GDC Online organizers have announced that the call for submissions is open for the leading online game-focused conference, which takes place this October 5-8 in Austin, Texas.

2010 GDC Canada Offers Free Passes For Laid-Off Developers

April 20, 2010

The organizers of next month's GDC Canada event in Vancouver are offering free Main Conference passes to Canadian game developers laid off in the last twelve months to help them return to the game industry.
Continuing a similar program conducted during GDC Canada 2009, and recognizing the toll the recession has taken on elements of the mainstream video game industry, a special page on the GDC Canada website details the offer's specifics.
To qualify, prospective attendees must have been laid off from a Canadian video game or creative/digital arts company within the past 12 months, not be currently full-time employed, and provide their Canadian Record of Employment document at GDC Canada onsite registration to validate your status.
They will also need to pre-register now for the May 6th-7th event at the Vancouver Convention Center by following the instructions on the GDC Canada page devoted to the subject. Only a limited amount of these passes are available.
The GDC Canada event itself has now confirmed much of its content, with a full schedule of announced lectures now available, and the Canadian Videogame Awards now confirmed for the night before the event.

GDC Vault Adds Talks From Brathwaite, geoDefense Creator

April 19, 2010

GDC organizers have debuted two new free lecture videos recorded at Game Developers Conference 2010, including acclaimed talks from Train boardgame creator Brenda Brathwaite and iPhone geoDefense maker David Whatley.
The two new lectures, both highly rated by GDC attendees, are part of a free bi-weekly update published at the GDC Vault website, and feature video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.
Firstly, Brenda Brathwaite's Design Track talk 'Train (or How I Dumped Electricity and Learned to Love Design)' sees the Slide creative director and veteran developer (Wizardry) discuss why she "shut off her computer and consoles and began to consume dozens of non-digital games from all over the world", after "playing a run of games that both looked and played the same."
In this lecture, Brathwaite talks about the design process of her series the Mechanic is the Message and specifically the award-winning board game Train, and "shares what she learned from our brothers and sisters in that other medium when she cut the cord, became incredibly inspired, and learned to love design."

GDC Online Organizers Announce iPad, 3D, iPhone, Game Narrative Summits

April 14, 2010

Organizers of this October's GDC Online game conference in Austin have confirmed Summits to run parallel with the major event, including one and two-day events dedicated to game development on Apple’s iPad, 3D stereoscopic games, iPhone games and video game narrative.
The summits, to be held on the first two days (October 5th and 6th) of the four-day event, will present key in-depth business and technical advice in these major up-and-coming facets of the game industry, ahead of the online game-centric Main Conference content.
The newly revealed topics to be presented at the Game Developers Conference Online (formerly known as GDC Austin) this October include the following:
iPad Gaming Summit
Debuting at GDC Online, the one-day iPad Gaming Summit, paired with the iPhone Games Summit, will provide an abundance of key facts and advice for all those working on the iPhone and iPad platforms.
Sharing key business learnings to top technical takeaways from developers already surging to major success on this already extremely competitive format platform, the iPad Summit provides a springboard into the world of iPhone/iPad game development.

GDC Canada Adds Career Seminar Talks, Console 'New Realities' Talk

April 12, 2010

GDC Canada organizers have revealed initial Game Career Seminar lectures for the May 6th-7th Vancouver event, also adding a Main Conference lecture by Disney and ex-Radical execs on the harsh 'new realities' of making major console games.
As well as already-announced emerging market lectures from Zynga and the Diner Dash creator and other recently debuted talks from Obsidian, Blizzard, Telltale, and Blue Castle Games execs and creators, the event is starting to debut details on this year's Game Career Seminar.
Held on Friday, May 7th, and a one-day program designed for students and individuals interested in learning how to build a career in the video game industry, the first two GDC Canada Game Career Seminar lectures have debuted via the event's Schedule Builder, as follows:
- In a GCS keynote entitled 'From Air Guitar to Video Games Live (and PBS!): A Conversation with Tommy Tallarico', veteran video game composer and Video Games Live co-creator Tommy Tallarico will talk to Victor Lucas about his career in the industry, from Earthworm Jim through the present day, and his work to popularize video game music -- giving helpful hints and tips for those looking for a longlasting career making video games.
- In a practical Game Career Seminar lecture, 'Preparation (Don't Give Us a Reason to Reject You!)', Obsidian Entertainment's Jim Rivers, the hiring manager for the Fallout: New Vegas and Alpha Protocol creators, explains of his lecture description: "Every convention, college or job fair people ask me one question. How do I get my foot in the door? I always answer 'Preparation!'... So I invite you to learn what to do to become prepared, and not give us a reason to reject you."

GDC Vault Adds Free 2D Boy, Bungie GDC 2010 Video Lectures

April 5, 2010

GDC organizers have released two new free lecture videos recorded at Game Developers Conference 2010, including 2D Boy's Ron Carmel on funding independent games and Bungie's Brian Sharp on compassionate leadership in game development.
The two new lectures, published at the GDC Vault website, feature video technology that allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.
First, the Independent Games Summit at GDC this year was kicked off by Ron Carmel's lecture, 'Indies and Publishers: Fixing a System That Never Worked', for which the full video presentation is now available.
Carmel, co-founder of World Of Goo creator 2D Boy, is one of the key movers behind the recently-announced Indie Fund, an "angel"-style funding source for indie game makers, and his lecture and Q&A discusses his thoughts on the future of funding for independents.
The lecture begins with IGS co-organizers Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink introducing the Summit and making remarks about the state of independent games - click on the 'Indies and Publishers' link in the navigation window if you'd like to move straight to Ron's talk.

GDC Canada Reminds On Early Reg Deadline, Confirms FarmVille Keynote

March 30, 2010

GDC Canada organizers are remind prospective attendees that tomorrow, March 31, is the deadline for early registration for the May 6th-7th Vancouver event.
At the same time, Zynga vice president and FarmVille general manager Bill Mooney has been confirmed as the event's opening keynote, kicking off the event with a lecture on May 6.
Mooney's prior experience includes major game publishers like Activision and LucasArts, in addition to five years as a trial lawyer and stints as a television writer. At GDC Canada, he'll speak from his experience developing Zynga's social game hits Mafia Wars and FarmVille in a keynote entitled "Building Social Games: Games at the Speed of Light."
In addition to previously-announced talks from Obsidian, Telltale, Blizzard, Diner Dash creator Nick Fortugno and many more, a new set of featured speakers has been highlighted for the upcoming conference, slated to discuss key focal points for the event like new distribution models, developing new global titles, and managing established franchises - as follows:

GDC Vault Debuts Free Videos, Slides From GDC 2010

March 25, 2010

Game Developers Conference 2010 organizers have revealed plans for the GDC Vault, including free videos featuring Zynga, Ernest Adams and more, and regular free updates planned throughout the year.
The newly launched GDC Vault website is designed to hold free speaker slides from all GDC events, as well as specially synchronized video recordings of Game Developers Conference lectures and historical audio recordings.
The GDC Vault video technology allows users to simultaneously view a presenter's slides alongside video and audio of their presentation.
As an initial offering, the GDC Vault free videos section has made the 5 Expo Pass-included GDC 2010 sessions available for completely free viewing.
Free GDC 2010 Lecture Recordings
Free videos debuted thus far include the following notable hour-long GDC 2010 lectures, all available permanently online:
- 'Engineering Scalable Social Games' by Dr. Robert Zubek of Zynga, a programming talk in which the veteran developer "introduces best practices for building highly scalable infrastructure for social and web games" from the viewpoint of the Farmville creators.

Connecting the Global Game Development Community