Interactive entertainment professionals and aspiring game makers flocked to San Francisco in record numbers for CMP’s 2008 Game Developers Conference (GDC), which concluded last week at the city’s Moscone Center. Organizers report that more than 18,000 people participated in the world’s largest industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of the art and technology of gaming. The five-day event offered more than 400 conference sessions, in addition to an expo and career pavilion featuring more than 300 exhibitors and sponsors.
‘Every year, the GDC’s goal is to deliver tailored learning and networking opportunities for the diverse groups of people who make games,’ says GDC exec director Jamil Moledina. ‘This year’s conference not only exceeded our historical attendance record, but also surpassed expectations in terms of content quality and deal-making productivity.’
Highlights of the conference included a keynote address by Microsoft’s John Schappert, who shared the company’s vision for the democratization of game distribution through use of their XNA Game Studio development software and the Xbox LIVE portal. This year’s summit lineup also saw strong turnouts for the Casual Games Summit, the Game Outsourcing Summit, the IGDA Education Summit, the Independent Games Summit, the Serious Games Summit and the Worlds in Motion Summit.
The confab’s latest addition, a social/professional networking platform dubbed myGDC, attracted 5,000 registered users. Participants were able to create and upload customized profiles and search a database of other profiles; connect with designers, programmers, publishers, GDC speakers, and game professionals; and share conference schedules, projects and ideas. Additional highlights included the 10th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) and the 8th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, which saw Valve’s Portal receive the prestigious Game of the Year award.
GDC will return to San Francisco in 2009, taking over the Moscone Center March 23-27. For a complete list of GDC 2008 event information, go to www.gdconf.com.
