Game Developers Conference Europe Concludes Successful 2010 Event

    


    
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<p><span class="xn-location">BERLIN</span>, <span class="xn-chron">Aug. 18</span> /CNW/ -- Game Developers Conference(TM) <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> 2010 (GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span>) has concluded a successful showing on <span class="xn-chron">Wednesday, August 18th</span> with a final count of nearly 1,500 game professionals representing more than 45 different countries coming to the <span class="xn-location">Cologne</span> Congress Center East in <span class="xn-location">Cologne</span>, <span class="xn-location">Germany</span> for 3 days of learning, networking, and inspiration.  Thanks to a strong lineup of speakers, ranging from famed game developer <span class="xn-person">Warren Spector</span> of Disney's Junction Point, to Hermen Hulst of Guerilla Games, the show presented an esteemed selection of 170 European and international speakers, a total of 40 exhibitors and sponsors and 275 media representatives covering game development on PC, social networking sites, consoles and mobile platforms. GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> returns to <span class="xn-location">Cologne</span>, <span class="xn-location">Germany</span> on August 15-17, 2011.</p>
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<p>Keynote speaker <span class="xn-person">Warren Spector</span>, creative director of Disney's Junction Point Studios and creator of the critically-acclaimed Deus Ex series, helped usher in the event with a lyrical speech discussing videogames as a medium unlike any other, with an unparalleled power to transport the player to completely believable worlds.  In the opening day's second keynote, Tencent Games VP <span class="xn-person">Bo Wang</span> helped to put the bourgeoning Chinese tech/game market in perspective, detailing his company's meteoric rise to earn more than 568 million active user accounts and <span class="xn-money">$1.3 billion</span> U.S. dollars in revenue from <span class="xn-chron">January 2010</span> to the end of <span class="xn-chron">June 2010</span>. The opening day also saw the first of the "Focus <span class="xn-location">Russia</span>" series of sessions, in which Dmitry Lyust and Konstantin Popov offered their overview of the Russian market, and their assessment of how the already-lucrative market could expand from <span class="xn-money">$223M USD</span> in 2009 to $400-410M USD by 2012.</p>
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<p>Day two of GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> saw an eclectic mix of speakers take on a variety of topics, including keynote speaker Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder of Bigpoint, who offered his audience a close look at how to conduct business in America as a European company, and the cultural and economic differences that need to be addressed to overcome the divide between European and America markets.  On the console development side, Hermen Hulst, the managing director of Guerrilla Games, discussed the genesis of Killzone in his keynote, elaborating on how the team's successes and failures ultimately culminated in the creation of a Sony-owned AAA console powerhouse.</p>
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<p>On Wednesday, <span class="xn-person">Lloyd Melnick</span> of Playdom, Alex Ruzhentsev of 101XP Inc, <span class="xn-person">Stefan Lampinen</span> of Speltjanst and Chris Stanton-Jones of Catapult Business Solutions offered their takes on the expanding Russian games industry from the perspective of business leaders working in the Russian market. The busy roundtable gave voice to a growing chorus of industry pioneers seeking opportunity in the fertile Russian soil.  From an booming geographic location, to a booming software platform, the PopCap Games postmortem on Bejeweled Blitz offered an insider's look at how the wildly successful casual games publisher managed to bring their success to the world of Facebook and social gaming, ultimately gaining a loyal following of 10 million active players before being adapted on the iPhone and as a PC-downloadable product.</p>
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<p>"GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> is a truly international show, spotlighting not only pan-European developers and publishers, but covering markets in <span class="xn-location">North America</span>, Asia and everywhere in-between," said GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> Director Frank Sliwka. "With another great show completed, GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> has shown that despite all the changes in the evolving world of game development, events like this help to unite all industry professionals with key insights into how to push the medium even further, and how to successfully develop for different parts of the world."</p>
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<p>In addition to the conference content, GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> offered several opportunities for creative exchange and business development, with venues including the GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> Expo Floor, VIP Lounge, and the GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> Business Lounge at gamescom, plus a host of industry parties.  More than forty exhibitors and sponsors from <span class="xn-location">Belgium</span>, <span class="xn-location">Germany</span>, the <span class="xn-location">Netherlands</span>, <span class="xn-location">Russia</span>, <span class="xn-location">Sweden</span>, the UK and the USA registered for the exhibitor zone measuring 650 square meters.  Exhibitors included Crytek, Bigpoint, Epic, Howest University, Imagination Studios and Intel.  In addition, GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> also hosted for the first time a business Lounge at the accompanying games expo, gamescom, at which Autodesk, Crytek, Epic, Zotac, DigiProtect, Level 3 exhibited.  All Access pass holders to GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> will also gain access to the video, audio, and presentation recordings at GDC <span class="xn-location">Europe</span> shortly after the event through the GDC Vault.</p>
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    For a more information on GDC Europe, visit: www.gdceurope.com.

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    MEDIA CONTACT:
               Brian Rubin
               fortyseven communications
               [phone]
               [email protected]
    
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               Susanne Tenzler-Heusler, Europe
                                   [phone]
               [email protected]
    
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    GDC EUROPE CONTACT:
                Frank Sliwka, VP European Business
                Development
                                   [phone]
               [email protected]
    
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               Ben Veechai, North America
               [phone]
               [email protected]






    

For further information: Brian Rubin of fortyseven communications, [phone], [email protected]; or Susanne Tenzler-Heusler, Europe, [phone], [email protected], both for UBM TechWeb Game Network; or Frank Sliwka, VP European Business Development, [phone], [email protected], or Ben Veechai, North America, [phone], [email protected], both for GDC Europe Web Site: http://www.gdceurope.com