GCDC Exclusive Keynote On Age Of Empires

GC Developers Conference (GCDC)

(August 20-22, 2007)

Leipzig, Germany - August 10, 2007 - Exactly ten years after the release of the groundbreaking hit Age of Empires, the founders of Ensemble Studios reunite for a special keynote at this year's GC Developers Conference (GCDC), August 20-22, 2007. At GCDC, Europe's most important platform for developers, they will discuss the origin and development of the real-time strategy (RTS) game classic, which is one of the top selling series in the history of the PC game industry.

2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the original RTS game, Age of Empires, developed by Ensemble Studios, of Dallas, Texas, USA. Studio head Tony Goodman and the designers Brian Sullivan and Bruce Shelley reunite at GCDC to look back at this best-selling game and speak for the first time ever since the game shipped. They will discuss how the various parts of the game came together, including the topic, the scope, graphic look, and the feature set. They will also revisit the trials of starting a new game studio, building the team, creating such a big game, finding and working with a quality publisher, and keeping it all together. They bet their studio on the success of this game and won, as it launched one of the most successful brands in PC game history.

"The three of us have all gone on with our lives since 1997 and it will be entertaining, and I hope educational, to hear what the three of us think now about the struggle to make this game over ten years ago," said Bruce Shelley. In addition to Age of Empires, Shelley worked on other classics including Civilization and Railroad Tycoon.

"Age of Empires is a major milestone in the history of the game industry," said Frank Sliwka, director of GCDC. "Pulling together nearly the complete founding team of Ensemble Studios to discuss the development process is a definite highlight of GCDC 2007."

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GCDC 2006 retrospective

Last August 21-23, 650 conference participants from 20 countries attended the GCDC in Leipzig. Speakers included Bob Bates (USA), Don L. Daglow (USA, President/CEO, Stormfront Studios), Graham Hopper (USA, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Buena Vista Games Inc.), Peter Molyneux (UK, President, Lionhead Studios) and Bill Roper (USA, CEO, Flagship Studios), among others.

Media Contacts:

Europe

Stephan Reiss, Press Officer, GCDC

+49 (0) 341 - 678 8186

s.reiss@leipziger-messe.de

North America

Sean Kauppinen, Kohnke Communications

+1 415-777-4000

sean@kohnkecomm.com

Contact for sponsors, speakers and participants:

Frank Sliwka, Project Director, GCDC

+49 (0) 341 - 678 8288

f.sliwka@leipziger-messe.de

GCDC on the internet:

http://www.gcdc.eu