F2P @ GDC Next: How to gain and retain your players

Learn how to engage with and retain new users next month in GDC Next's Free to Play & New Game Business Models Track, with Disruptor Beam on their social and soon-to-be mobile Game of Thrones: Ascent, KIXEYE on user retention and monetization, and Visa's PlaySpan and Frank N. Magid Associates on alternative payment methods. GDC Next will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks. In 'Game of Thrones Ascent: Creating an Engaging Social Game Through Story,' Jon Radoff and Tim Crosby of Disruptor Beam will discuss what it takes to create content for a notable free-to-play, story-driven social game based on a popular IP. Attendees will gain an understanding of what it takes to create engaging, steady content with low player acquisition costs for the high-profile licensed title. KIXEYE's Seran Chen will provide key analytics and best practices towards building an engaging new user experience that increases retention and monetization in 'The Sticky Science of New User Experiences.' Chen will analyze different design concepts and offer methodologies that enhance the overall user's experience with regards to flow, fun, immersion and playability. Also, in 'Should I Pay or Should I Go? Consumer Attitudes on F2P and Alternative Payments' Robert Crawford of Frank N. Magid Associates and Andre Machicao of Visa's virtual goods monetization platform PlaySpan will share studies conducted on virtual goods and free-to-play market trends. Their findings will include data on spending habits, genre and platform preferences, influential factors for purchases, and general consumer sentiment about free-to-play games and alternative payment methods. Be sure to check out the GDC Next Session Scheduler to see the other announced talks and begin your planning. Previously announced Future of Games Track talks include EA Mythic lead designer Kate Flack on toy industry insights she brought to Ultima Forever, Ubisoft Blue Byte's Teut Weidemann on why mobile is everything, and more. Online registration is in full swing for GDC Next and the co-located ADC; register now and save up to $200 on ADC, GDC Next, or a combined VIP All Access Pass. For all the latest news on GDC Next, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Also, check out ADC's focus on Education Apps: EA founder Trip Hawkins on his new learning service, Animoca on complying with new online privacy rules, and Dreamkind on standing toe-to-toe with Elmo and other powerful kids' brands. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.