Game Developers Conference 2007, GDC London announced

1 July 2006

Posted by:Josh

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the official trade event “by game developers for developers” of computer, console, mobile, arcade, online games, and location based entertainment. GDC ’06 was a huge success and already the events organizers (The CMP Game Group) are hard at work planning GDC ’07 which runs from March 5th to 9th.

“The rallying cry for GDC 07 is ‘Take Control,’ and we’re asking game-industry professionals to explicitly detail their challenges and victories in creating next-generation and industry-broadening games,” said GDC executive director Jamil Moledina. “Now more than ever, developers are empowered to create and distribute a broad range of games, be they casual, online, independent, small-footprint mobile, or epic, blockbuster console or PC adventures–using a broader range of financial and organizational tools and partners–and GDC presents the leading forum to share these opportunities as a unified creative industry.”

In addition, they announced a new new GDC offshoot to be held across the Atlantic. Titled GDC London, the event will run from October 2-4 at the Piccadilly Circus headquarters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

BAFTA headquarters is also the site of the London Games Summit, which takes place immediately after GDC London from October 4-5.

The London Games Summit was created to fill the void created after the UK’s two top game events, the venerable ECTS and upstart EGN, committed mutual suicide by holding their events simultaneously in 2004.

No keynote or conference speakers were named for the event, though CMP did promise it would offer “expert developers delivering cross-disciplinary sessions based on real-world, next-generation console games.” The announcement promised more details about GDC London in July.

GDC attracts over 12,000 attendees and provides educational, networking, and business opportunities for game development professionals driving the $11 billion video game industry. It is the main global forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas, network, and shape the future of the industry.

This market defining conference features over 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts. In addition, the GDC expo showcases all of the game development tools, platforms and services. The conference also includes the eighth annual Independent Games Festival, where new, unpublished games compete for the attention of the publishing community.