GCDC Preview

The fifth annual GC Developers Conference will be held next week prior to the opening of the Leipzig Games Convention.

Organisers of the event announced that 850 attendees have registered for GCDC, up from last year's record of 650. The event will feature more than 120 speakers divided between 80 lectures, panels, and workshops.

âGCDC 2007 will be a focal point for the game industry as we explore all aspects of development, business, production, and science as they relate to games,â said Frank Sliwka, director of GCDC.

The three day GCDC conference features speakers and attendees from more than 35 countries around the world and gives attendees a global view of the games industry in a concentrated program.

On Monday, August 20th, Julian Eggebrecht of Factor 5 will deliver the opening keynote entitled "No sex, no drugs, and little Rockân Roll — Ratings and the challenged creativity in games." Panels scheduled that day include Life After WoW: MMO Games of 2008 and Beyond, a Storytelling panel, and a panel on Strategic Marketing Management.

On Tuesday, August 21st, Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios will be giving a talk on "Life, Death and Love in Computer Games." Panels scheduled for that day include talks on Independent Game Development, the Future of the MMO industry, game Engines, and Serious Games.

On Wednesday, August 22nd, Double Fine's Tim Schafer will deliver a keynote on Creativity and Games. Panels on the last day of the show include Women in Games and a discussion of Subscriptions vs. Micro-Transactions.

The GCDC Night, where game industry professionals meet and network, takes place Wednesday evening in the Pocket Park Ost on the fairgrounds.

Additional confirmed speakers include Michael Capps and Mark Rein from Epic Games, Ken Ralston from Big Huge Games, Michael Lewis from Cryptic Studios, Cathy Campos from Panache, George Bain, Level 3's Uwe Nikl, Jeff Hickman from EA Mythic, and Mark Moriss of Introversion Software.