Game::Business::Law 2010

PLANO, TEXAS - February 24, 2009 - The success of this year’s Game::Business::Law, an international summit on the law and business of video games, has prompted sponsors of the event to begin planning for next year’s event by announcing its conference date of January 27-28, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

The event was hosted by SMU Dedman School of Law, The Guildhall at SMU and The Center for American and International Law. A group of approximately 165 game industry leaders, developers, publishers, lawyers and members of the venture capital and financial industry were on hand to discuss in depth the latest business trends and legal issues of the game industry.

“The conference exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Peter Raad, co-chair of the summit and executive director of The Guildhall at SMU, a graduate video game development program. “It looks like the conference fulfilled a need for the business and legal side of the game industry to get together and take a long, hard and personal look at our future.”

“Attendees came from all across North America and as far away as Asia and Europe. We were glad to see representation from major game publishers such as Activision and EA as well as independent studio business development leaders and their attorneys. In addition, we had good representation from a nationally known research analyst and venture capitalists,” Dr. Raad added.

The Guildhall at SMU has made it possible to download the Game:: Business::Law Summit video and audio through the program’s website at: www.guildhall.smu.edu.

On the home page, under Guildhall Journal, are instructions and a link to hear the individual summit’s keynote speakers and panel sessions through SMU’s iTunes U. Alternatively, if you would like to order a complete DVD set of the Game:: Business::Law Summit keynote speakers and panel sessions, there is a link on the home page as well.

Notable speakers at the Game:: Business::Law Summit included:

• Chris Baker, Wired Magazine

• Zach Bishop, Hunton & Williams

• Edward A. Cavazos, Fish & Richardson P.C.

• Roxanne E. Christ, Latham & Watkins

• John W. Crittenden, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP

• Dan Ferguson, Blockdot, Inc.

• J. Holt Foster, III, Thompson & Knight LLP

• Richard Garriott, Astronaut and Game Industry Legend

• Christian S. Genetski, Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP

• Dan Hewitt, Entertainment Software Association

• Mike Hogan, GameStop Corporation

• Jason Holtman, Valve

• Zack Karlsson, Sr., NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc.

• Michael Klotz, NPD Group

• Mitch Lasky, Benchmark Capital

• David L. McCombs, Haynes and Boone, LLP

• Mark Methenitis, The Vernon Law Group

• Steve Nix, id Software, Inc.

• Xuan-Thao Nguyen, SMU Dedman School of Law

• Joseph Olin, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

• Patrick Pugh, PricewaterhouseCoopers

• JJ Richards, Microsoft Corporation

• Barry Seaton, Barry C. Seaton, P.C.

• Rob Seaver, Vivox

• Colin A. Sebastian, Lazard Capital Markets

• Greg Short, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR)

• Edward Williams, BMO Capital Markets

• Michael Yatsko, PricewaterhouseCoopers

• Jerry Zhang , Shanda Games

About The Guildhall at SMU: The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is the premier graduate video game education program in the US. Many of the school’s founders are industry icons, and classes are taught by industry veterans. In five years, the program has graduated over 250 students and alums have worked at more than 80 video game studios around the world, with several graduates now serving in leadership positions. SMU offers both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, and software development. For more information, visit guildhall.smu.edu.

Contact: Ron Jenkins, jenkinsr@smu.edu, 972.473.3546