2008 GDC 2008: Game Developers Conference Breaks Attendance Records

CMP’s 2008 Game Developers Conference(R) (GDC) hosted more than 18,000 game industry professionals last week at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The world’s largest industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of interactive
entertainment attracted the full spectrum of game industry enthusiasts from
known luminaries, to aspiring and established game developers, to
publishers and deal makers to members of the working press. With over 400
sessions, a robust expo and career pavilion featuring more than 300
exhibitors and sponsors, and numerous networking events, the five day
conference provided interactive engagement and insight for the industry.
GDC will return to the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA in 2009 taking
place March 23-27.

Highlights of the conference included a keynote address by Microsoft’s
John Schappert, Corporate Vice President LIVE, Software and Services for
the Interactive Entertainment Business, who shared Microsoft’s vision for
the democratization of game distribution through use of their XNA Game
Studio development software and the Xbox LIVE portal. In the conference’s
second keynote address, the celebrated inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil
inspired game developers to think into the future of gaming and consider
closely how the power of technology can exponentially grow their
capabilities to create more robust and dynamic games, drive community, and
revolutionize interactive entertainment.

“Every year, the GDC’s goal is to deliver tailored learning and
networking opportunities for the diverse groups of people who make games,”
said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference.
“This year’s conference not only exceeded our historical attendance record,
but also surpassed expectations in terms of content quality and deal-making
productivity.”

In addition to the ever popular lectures, panels, tutorials and
roundtable discussions, this year’s summit lineup proved to be of
particular interest to attendees as many sessions reached capacity.
Covering emerging and influential sectors of the game industry, 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 presented cutting edge content and featured sector experts
and thought leaders. Additional highlights to the conference included the
10th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF), the 8th Annual Game
Developers Choice Awards, Game Connection, Video Games Live and the Game
Career Seminar.

myGDC, the event’s newly launched social/professional networking
platform, proved to be very popular with attendees attracting 5,000
registered users. Participants were able to create and upload customized
attendee 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.

For a complete list of GDC 2008 event information, please visit
http://www.gdconf.com/.

About the Game Developers Conference (http://www.gdconf.com)

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world’s largest
professionals-only game industry event. Presented every spring in San
Francisco, it is the essential forum for learning, inspiration, and
networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, and
online games. The GDC attracts over 16,000 attendees, and is the primary
forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio
professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the
development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the
future of the industry. The GDC is produced by the CMP Game Group, a
division of CMP.

About CMP (http://www.cmp.com)

CMP (http://www.cmp.com/) is a media and marketing solutions company
serving the technology industry. With the leading online, event and print
brands in all technology market categories, and with services and tools
that reach beyond traditional advertising, CMP shapes and influences the
technology industry worldwide. CMP publishes highly respected media brands
such as TechWeb, InformationWeek, ChannelWeb, CRN, EE Times and TechOnline;
produces major industry events such as Interop, Web 2.0 Expo, XChange, Game
Developers Conference and the Embedded Systems Conferences; and provides
business information and marketing services such as the International
Customer Management Institute, Semiconductor Insights and Second Life
consulting for technology marketers. CMP is a subsidiary of United Business
Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market
capitalization of more than $3 billion. For more CMP news, go to
cmp.com/news.

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