GDC Europe 2011 Debuts Thatgamecompany, Glu, Digital Chocolate Talks

Author: by Staff

GDC Europe 2011 has revealed a selection of new lectures from the show's Summits, including Thatgamecompany on reaching out to new audiences, Glu Mobile on freemium viability, and Digital Chocolate on making social games with hardcore gameplay. This year, the gamescom co-located mid-August show in Cologne, Germany will host Summits on Social Games, Independent Games, Smartphone & Tablet Games, and Community Management. Some near-final new highlights from these Summits, which have largely rounded out their line-ups, include the following: - In the keynote for Monday's Independent Games Summit, president and co-founder of Thatgamecompany Kellee Santiago will discuss how to reach out to new demographics in "Developing New Audiences: When the Past Can't Predict Your Future." Drawing from her experience working on flOw, Flower, and Journey, Santiago will explain "how to make effective decisions based on little data to create commercially successful titles that, in the beginning (and maybe right up until you ship), no one will think you can sell." - In the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit, Mike Breslin, VP of global marketing at mobile publisher Glu Mobile (Gun Bros.), will host a talk titled "From Free-to-Play to Freemium: Emerging Category in Mobile Gaming." Breslin will discuss the implications of Apple's policy changes regarding freemium games on iOS, and will outline "the ways in which leading publishers will use strong development relationships and robust player networks to continue driving the growth of freemium." - During the same Summit on Tuesday, Digital Chocolate's Helsinki-based VP for global studios Jami Laes will host a talk in the Social Games Summit dubbed, "The Evolution of Zombie Lane - How to Successfully Develop a Casual Social Game with a Hardcore Theme." In this session, Laes will examine the studio's Facebook-based zombie game and outline the team's approach to blending hardcore and casual elements using a systematic creative process "with an end-user focus." These sessions join other previously announced talks in GDC Europe's Community Management and Independent Game Summits, which include speakers from CCP, Frictional Games, and much more. Other recent announcements for GDC Europe include Main Conference talks from Quantic Dream, Gameforge, and Jonathan Blow, and additional talks from Obsidian, GameStop, and Sony. Taking place Monday through Wednesday, August 15-17, 2011 at the Cologne Congress-Centrum Ost, alongside the major gamescom trade show, GDC Europe 2011 will again provide the essential pan-European perspective of game development and business trends. GDC Europe organizers would also like to remind potential attendees that Early Registration pricing for the show will end on Wednesday, July 20th, with reduced-price registration for the event only available until that date. For more information on GDC Europe as the event takes shape, please visit the official GDC Europe website, or subscribe to updates from the GDC Europe-specific news page via RSS, Twitter, or Facebook. GDC Europe is a product of UBM TechWeb, as is this website.