Europe hails Lyon success

The inaugural GDC Lyon has been dubbed a success by the European games community, with more than 450 attendees turning up for the two day event.

Running alongside the 14th Game Connection has also helped both events achieve a sense of unity amongst the developers, publishers and industry professionals making the most of the close-knit conferences.

"The reality is that GDC Lyon is a fresh opportunity to share the learning of our studio with other developers and professionals," commented Cevat Yerli CEO of Crytek.

"Sharing experiences is very valuable, you say what not to do, and that's the most important part of the learning circle. We made mistakes with Far Cry and on Crysis, so the message we're trying to give [in Lyon] is that the key to learning is to acknowledge these and hopefully it will help the development situation in Europe."

The convenience of a European specific GDC has also appealed to local developers who can't afford to send many staff to the main event, held annually in San Francisco.

"A big event has been missing in Europe. As a smaller developer we can't send 10 people to GDC in San Francisco," said Patrick Pligersdroffer, CEO of Paris-based Cyanide. "But here, we can send many people and they learn from it and come back to us as better developers and better professionals. It is also good for the morale of the team, it shows them you care."

The three day Game Connection — with over 700 attendees and 210 exhibitors — also continues to be beneficial to the companies as they forge relationships with European counterparts, pitch to potential partners and gain insight into publisher needs and wants.

"You may not come away with a deal but you'll learn what publishers are looking for in the future, how to present to companies, and these are invaluable things to learn," offered Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion.

"It's a very interesting mechanism, like business speed dating. You may have a bad meeting but you know it will be over soon and you'll have another one in 20 minutes anyway."

Despite the success of both events running in the same week, it's unlikely the two will run together next year.

Executive director of Connection Events Pierre Carde said that Game Connection will once again be it's own separate event in Lyon next year, but he was cagey on any specifics regarding a time and location of another European GDC.