KGC2008

The Korea Game Industry Agency announced on the 30th that prominent local and international game developers from companies such as NCSoft, Blizzard Entertainment, Microsoft, and AMD would give keynote speeches at the Korea Game Conference 2008 (KGC2008) to be held at the Ilsan KINTEX on November 13~15.

With the theme ¡°5th Generation of Gaming,¡± this conference will feature speakers from world-class corporations and include an in-depth discussion on the continuous growth and future of the game industry.

¡°5th Generation of Gaming¡± presumes that games to date have gone through the 4th generation. If first-generation games are those with simple game rules such as ¡°Breakout¡±, second-generation games are those with contents such as stories and settings, e.g., RPGs. Third-generation games are those developed based on mutual interactions between players through networks. Finally, fourth-generation games are online games with preconditions of large-scale user connections. In KGC 2008, developers shall hold discussions focusing on what the 5th generation of gaming will look like.

NCSoft Development Director Bae Jae-hyeon, who was confirmed to be one of the keynote speakers in this conference, directly participated in the development of ¡°Lineage2.¡± He was also in charge of the development of highly anticipated upcoming releases such as ¡°AION¡± and ¡°Blade & Soul.¡± As one of the leading game developers wielding a huge influence on the Korean game industry, he will try to forecast the future of the game industry and set the direction of online gaming.

Furthermore, Microsoft Director Frank Savage will give a presentation on XNA Game Studio, the new multi-platform game development environment he created. AMD¡¯s Ritchie Corpus will give a speech on graphic realism in Cinema 2.0 movies and games. Blizzard Entertainment Artist Kang Hyeong-won is drawing the attention of many gamers because he is planning to unveil a new game called ¡°Diablo 3¡± in Asia for the first time at this conference.

Presentations from Microsoft and NCSoft are scheduled on the first day (Nov. 13). AMD and Blizzard Entertainment will give their presentations from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on the 14th at the 3rd floor of the KINTEX Grand Ballroom.

KGC which is marking its 8th anniversary is jointly hosted by The Korea Game Industry Agency(KOGIA) and Korea Game Developers¡¯ Association(KGDA) and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Gyeonggi Digital Contents Agency(GDCA).

Similar to last year, Microsoft, AMD, and ETRI were confirmed as the main sponsors of KGC2008. Developers and executives of many corporations such as nVidia, Intel, IBM, SUN, Scaleform, and NTREEV Soft will also participate as either speakers or sponsors.

For more detailed information on the keynote speeches, log on to the official homepage of KGC2008( www.kgconf.com). The pre-registration deadline for the speeches is November 7.

About KGC

Originally known as KGDC, KGC started out as a conference for game developers held by the Korea Game Developers' Association (KGDA) in 2001. Since 2003, it has transformed into an international conference for game developers from an event exclusive for Korean developers. In 2004, it changed its name to "Korea Games Conference." KGC has become the largest international game conference in Asia, attracting thousands of visitors and featuring lectures by prominent game developers in the industry.

Last year's KGC 2007 featured 74 lectures under the theme "Beyond Illusion," establishing itself as a world-class international game conference and living up to its reputation with over 4,000 spectators from 18 countries attending and 73 speakers from 8 countries participating.

About KGDA

The Korea Game Developers' Association (KGDA) is a representative organization that speaks for the interest of game developers. To protect the rights of game developers and share the latest information, it actively engages in outside activities such as the Korea Games Conference and Korea Independent Game and Game Idea Contest.

KGDA started out by playing the role of a community for information exchange among game developers in the initial stage as an online game development club. Based on the consensus that there is a need for an organization that can be the voice of game developers, however, it was reborn as a corporation called Korea Game Developers Association (KGDA) in 2000.

With Kim Gwang-sam, professor at Chungkang College of Cultural Industries, taking office as the 2nd chairman in April 2006, KGDA broke away from the existing community color. It is working hard to represent the rights and interest of game developers and establish itself as the association that contributes to the growth of the Korean game industry.

About KOGIA

KOGIA was founded in February 1999 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism with the objective of developing the game industry as the key future strategic industry of the country. For the past nine years, KOGIA has greatly contributed to the development of the domestic game industry and support Korean games in the global market. KOGIA is planning to implement various programs aimed at raising the awareness of game culture, promoting e-sports, developing the creative capability of game contents, promoting international cooperation and exports, building up the game industry infrastructure, and pursuing professional development, legislation improvement and management innovation based on a master plan for the game industry's long-term development.

For inquiries on KGC 2008, contact:

KGC Organizer/Manager SoYeon Park

Tel.: 82-2-6939-7784, 7898

Email: speaker@kgconf.com

http://www.kgconf.com