GDC 2013 adds Game Narrative, QA Summits, calls for Summit submissions

The call for submissions to present lectures for the specialized Summits kicking off the 2013 Game Developers Conference (GDC) is now open through Tuesday, October 23 at 11:59pm ET. The GDC Summits, which take place the first two days of the five day conference, are one and two day events that cover relevant topics in emerging sectors of the game industry, with a focus on broadening the scope of games to incorporate new audiences, new platforms and new gameplay ideas. Organized by Gamasutra parent company UBM Tech Game Network, GDC 2013 will take place March 25-29, 2013 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. The Game Narrative Summit comes to GDC this year after being held for seven years at GDC Online in Austin, Texas. The two day program covers interactive narrative in all its forms, from AAA blockbusters to indie games to transmedia projects. The summit is looking to feature an all-star lineup of speakers from every corner of the discipline, with session content ranging from the advanced and theoretical for writers, designers and others seeking to hone their skills. Returning advisors for the program include Tom Abernathy of Microsoft Studios, Lev Chapelsky of Blindlight, Richard Dansky of Ubisoft/Red Storm and Susan O'Connor of Susan O'Connor Writing Studio. Narrative Director, Mary DeMarle of Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) joins the returning advisors to assist in programming a robust Game Narrative Summit. The introduction of the QA Summit marks the first time that the GDC will have dedicated content to quality assurance which is a critical component in game development. Since there is no standard methodology to QA, this summit will discuss new and/or current tools, processes and organization methods being used in QA today and to show how QA is an integral part of development. Attendees will gain some new insight and knowledge that will help existing QA Teams/Managers as well as those new to QA. Mario Vasquez, Sr. Director, North American QA at Electronic Arts, Ben Wibberley, Games Director at VMC Game Labs, and Daniel Pangelina, QA Lead/Manager of Double Fine Games will spearhead the QA Summit advisory committee. The Free-to-Play Design & Business Summit (the successor to the Social & Online Games Summit) will be taking submissions covering a range of topics relating to free-to-play (F2P) titles - from postmortems on new and successful F2P games, to the latest and greatest monetization techniques, to lessons learned in designing F2P titles from the ground up, to experiences on social features, among other pressing trends that F2P developers face. Steve Meretzky of Playdom/Disney, Sulka Haro of Makie Lab, John Welch of Making Fun, Juan Grill of Joju Games, David Edery of Spry Fox and Frank Cartwright of 2K/Gamers First, the original advisors of the Social & Online Games Summit, will return to serve as the advisors for the Free-to-Play Design & Business Summit. The new summits join a lineup of popular and major returning summits, including the Independent Games Summit and the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit; the complete lineup for the GDC 2013 Summits follows: Free-to-Play Design & Business Summit Game Narrative Summit GDC Education Summit Independent Games Summit Localization Summit QA Summit Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit More information on the call for submissions and on Game Developers Conference 2013 is available via its official website.