Evolving the GDC

Last week the organisers of the Game Developers Conference announced that it would be doubling the size of the event in 2007 in order to meet demand from the industry.

Here, Jamil Moledina, executive director of the GDC, reveals in detail why the event is scaling up and upgrading the range of opportunities available to attendees, and what can be expected from GDC 07.

Jamil Moledina: Sure. We develop the Game Developers Conference each year focusing on the core values of providing learning, inspiration, and networking for the games industry. If it's not about those three elements, it doesn't belong at GDC.

Even with the change in E3, we will continue to focus on this set of core values. Keep in mind that the GDC is first a multi-discipline game conference, which attracts the leading game creators to speak and attend. These attendees then make it worthwhile for companies to sponsor and exhibit at GDC. It's very much an 'if A, then B' proposition, and we won't be altering our focus on the conference content.

This focus led to GDC hosting over 12,500 attendees this year, which - with the change in E3 - makes GDC the largest game industry-only event in the world.

As for the E3 news, the GDC show floor was virtually sold out as is. The doubling of the show floor reflects the demand we have received from E3 ex-pats to present at GDC, but also reflects an overall expansion in the GDC.

For example, our largest regular conference session rooms will grow from a 600-person capacity to 1,000-person capacity. Our total inventory of sessions is also increasing. To match this growth, we are creating more specialised networking events, to ensure the intimacy of the event.

At the end of the day, we aren't changing the character of GDC. E3 has always been a complementary partner to GDC, and this will continue in E3's new form. As a summer game premiere event, E3 shows near complete games to the press, requiring developers on hand to demo the games.

GDC is a March game learning event, requiring those same developers to present and attend sessions. So trying to combine the two would be both contrary to core values, and would require curving space-time.

What kind of demand have you received from the industry for next years' event - have you seen a particularly higher interest than expected because of E3 being reduced in size?

With E3 changing to focus on showing publishers' games to the media, there are two groups that are no longer invited to participate. First there's the prosumer group, who used to fudge credentials to crash E3. These folks are actually a critical part of marketing games, since they take their experiences home and influence those around them. Tokyo Game Show and Leipzig's Games Convention acknowledge their value by inviting consumers to participate in the later days of those events.

The other group is loosely defined as 'everyone else', which includes small publishers, international consortia, technology providers, middleware companies, and developers with budget for just one event per year.

Following the E3 announcement, we've received significant interest from this 'everyone else' category, which prompted us to expand the show floor. We are working with these E3 ex-pats to make sure their goals match with the GDC experience.

From an exhibitor standpoint, it's very much the behind-the-scenes companies that are interested, and seeing if there's a fit. Although, not surprisingly, we're getting a spike in interest from developers and publishers interested in passes to attend the conference sessions.

How do you balance the inclusion of new content to GDC 07 and at the same time continue to meet the demands of your core community members?

We focus on the conference content first. We develop that in a combination of a call for papers and a painstaking process of precise invitations, to make sure that GDC stays slightly ahead of the curve.

All new additions are incremental relative to the volume of attendance and content delivered at the GDC. This is an approach we have employed on GDC for years, and we have managed to satisfy core attendees while providing a forum for new opportunities in the game industry. The thing is, these are not mutually exclusive goals. Everything new that we have added brings increased attention to the importance of developers and the creative process, which is the root of any company's success in the games industry. The balance is inherent, as long as new additions fit the GDC philosophy.

You've described GDC 07 as having "the largest gravitational pull of any other game-industry event" - do you feel the pressure is really going to be on GDC to partly provide an all-encompassing industry event?

No. My use of the term "gravity" was to suggest that GDC is the natural place to be if you're in the game industry, and have budget for only one event. We aren't going for the image of being all-encompassing, our focus is on creating the one place that provides all the tools, services, and contacts necessary to create great games.

Can GDC confidently meet the needs of the industry next year?

Yes. We have an open approach to game creation, whether you're creating next-gen, current-gen, handheld, mobile, serious, online, casual, indie, or have something brand new to capture the minds of everyone else not currently playing games, GDC has the content, exhibits, and networking to make your ideas come to life.

Aside from increasing floor space, what resources will be on offer for attendees to be able to make the most of the event?

We are increasing the size and number of classrooms, and increasing the number of specialised events, such as the Independent Games Summit.

We are also upgrading several existing networking elements, such as our partnership with Game Connection, a matchmaking system for developers and publishers, which is expanding to include meetings for service providers such as outsourcers and middleware providers.

Our networking software for attendees is also expanding its functionality, and there will be more events celebrating the culture of games. The GDC website is slated to go live in late October, and you'll see a lot more details about these and other new elements.

Is there a danger of trying to offer too much, or include too many elements of the industry, at the cost of neglecting its core strengths?

Yes, there is. GDC is a conference based event, with everything else we do, the expo floor, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the Independent Games Festival, all being an offshoot of the learning, inspiration, and networking that come with the conference.

Have you felt any pressure from developers or publishers that want to throw money at the event in order to appear to be the biggest and best company on show?

Not really. Since GDC is an editorially-driven event, the sessions must first survive the scrutiny of our advisory board. The content presented is therefore a meritocracy where the most innovative games and most forthright development experiences get the spotlight. We also have sponsored sessions, events, and exhibits for companies to promote their own advantages and branding.

How can you assure smaller companies and individuals that they will get just as much attention at GDC 07 as the giants of the industry?

GDC is not a giants-driven event, it's driven by individual pass sales. Furthermore, GDC's primary editorial goal is to provide learning for the entire game creation industry, so we have to deliver content on every relevant part of that ecosystem. No matter how you look at it, practically and ideologically, GDC is dedicated to equal and comprehensive content.