IGF 2010 entries roll in in record numbers
According to the organizers of the 2010 Independent Games Festival (IGF 2010) the annual event dedicated to all things indie gaming that runs during the Game Developers conference has received a record number of entries to the Main Competition. In total, this year’s Main Competition has has right around 306 game entries, many of which were created by leading independent game developers. This represents a 35 percent increase over last year’s 226 entries, which was a 30 percent increase over the previous year.
From this pool of 306 entries, finalists will be decided by 150 industry judges. Finalists will be announced in January 2010. Games selected as finalists will be available in playable form on the GDC show floor and will compete for nearly $50,000 in prizes, including awards for Excellence in Design, Art, the Audience Award and the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Winners will be announced at the IGF ceremony, taking place March 11, 2010, during the Game Developers Conference.
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GDC 2010 registration opens
Registration has opened today for the 2010 Game Developers Conference, taking place March 13, 2010 and one again in San Francisco. GDC 2010 is five days of lectures, panels, summits, tutorials and roundtable discussions on game development topics delivered by leading industry luminaries and experts.
In addition to a variety of Summits and talks ay GDC this year, it also home of the Game Developers Choice Wards, the Independent Games Festival and much, much more. More information on GDC 2010 and how to register early, can be found www.gdconf.com/attend.
2009 GDC Austin a success, 2010 event dated
Think Services has proclaimed the 2009 Game Developers Conference Austin (GDC Austin) a smashing success today. The event drew to a close last week on Friday, Sept.18, marking the 7th successful year of the conference, bringing together industry speakers and keynotes covering the evolving landscape of online games, iPhone games, independent development and more. The main conference focused on connected games ranging from addictive and accessible social network games, to ambitious and expansive massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).
This year’s event featured more than 130 lectures, panels, keynotes, and roundtable discussions, presented by 230 industry-leading speakers, and a busy expo floor. GDC Austin played host to 2,650 verified attendees, while the expo floor attracted 80 participating exhibitors and sponsors showcasing up-and-coming game technology and software.
All in all it does sound like a smashing success. Think Services also announced that the 2010 Game Developers Conference Austin (GDC Austin) will take place in Austin on October 5 - 8, 2010.
GDC Austin opens its doors
The 7th annual Game Developers Conference Austin (or GDC Austin for short) returns to the Austin Convention Center today, kicking off 4 days of sessions focused on the connected gaming space, covering MMOs, virtual worlds and social networking games. New to GDC Austin this year is a lineup of two day of summits centered on Game Writers, Game Audio, iPhone Games and Independent Games development.
GDC Austin serves up more than 130 lectures, panels, keynotes, and roundtable discussions, presented by 230 industry insiders and an expo floor with more than 80 exhibitors and sponsors. The event ends Friday, September 18.
Speakers include John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment; J. Allen Brack, Production Director, Blizzard Entertainment and Frank Pearce, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President of Product Development, Blizzard Entertainment; and Sebastien de Halleux, COO & Co-Founder, Playfish.
Learn more at www.GDCAustin.com.
BioWare has teamed up with Tor Books to publish Dragon Age: The Calling, a new novel set in the world of Dragon Age: Origins, BioWare’s newest role-playing game franchise set for release in November of this year. Dragon Age: Origins lead writer David Gaider, follows up his debut novel, Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne, with a new adventure set in the dark fantasy universe of Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age: The Calling is scheduled to release on October 13, 2009, for $14.99.
Dragon Age: Origins is scheduled to release on November 3, 2009 in North America and November 6, 2009 in Europe for the PC and Xbox 360, with the PS3 version coming later in November. The game is rated “M” for “Mature” by the ESRB mostly because of the sex BioWare has talked about - or at least that’s my guess.
GDC Europe begins today
Think Services’ European developer event, the Game Developers Conference Europe (GDC Europe), kicks off today at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany through Wednesday, August 19. The three day event hosts a lineup of keynotes addresses, lectures, panels, roundtable discussions and sessions, this year emphasizing timely content and topics in business, game design, production, programming and visual arts.
Presented in conjunction with gamescom, GDC Europe will feature keynote addresses by Matias Myllyrinne of Max Payne and Alan Wake developer Remedy, Hilmar Pétursson of EVE Online developer CCP, Cevat Yerli of FarCry and Crysis developer Crytek, Klaas Kersting of German online game leader Gameforge and David Cage of Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream
For more information about GDC Europe check out www.gdceurope.com.
Independent Games Festival China details
Think Services announced that the first-ever Independent Games Festival China (IGF China), will be held in conjunction with the 2009 Game Developers Conference China. GDC China returns to the Shanghai International Convention Center, October 11-13 of this year.
After 11 years of the main Independent Games Festival competition being held at GDC in San Francisco, the Independent Games Festival will present itself to Shanghai, China for the first time in 2009, in a competition specifically designed to showcase smaller companies in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Independent Games Festival China will feature three main components: the Independent Games Summit event held on the opening day that will feature multiple sessions with smaller, entrepreneurial Chinese and Asian firms showcasing their work; an IGF Pavilion that will showcase all finalists’ games on Sunday and Monday (October 11th and 12th); and the Independent Games Festival Awards ceremony to be held on Monday evening.
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800 attend GDC Canada
Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications announced that the Game Developers Conference Canada (GDC Canada) saw more than 800 game industry professionals attend the event last week at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center. Building on the 2008 Vancouver International Game Summit (VIGS), GDC Canada (a replacement for that event) doubled attendance numbers from the previous year’s event. GDC Canada returns to the VCEC May 6-7, 2010.
For complete information on future Game Developers Conferences including, GDC Europe, GDC Austin, GDC China, and GDC 2010 visit www.gdconf.com.
