GDC Europe 2012 adds Google, Spec Ops, Daglow talks

GDC Europe 2012 is inching ever closer, and this week show organizers have unveiled three new talks in its growing lineup, featuring Google on the evolving economics of the industry, industry veteran Don Daglow on reaching North American audiences, and a look at Spec Ops: The Line's visual effects. These talks all fall within GDC Europe's Main Conference, which takes place Monday through Wednesday, August 13-15, 2012 at the Congress-Centrum Ost Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. The full details on these new sessions are as follows: - Firstly, Google's Koh Kim will present the Business & Marketing track lecture, "The New Economics of Games," examining the industry paradigm shifts that brought us the indie renaissance, free-to-play games, virtual transactions, and more. Kim, who works on games partnerships for Chrome and Google+ at the company, will pick apart all of these major trends in order to uncover the economic principles guiding the industry and what developers can do to take advantage of the latest business models. Attendees will not only walk away with a better understanding of the market at large, they'll also be better prepared to sustain their games in today's economic climate. - In the Game Design track lecture, "5 Things About American Online Gamers that Surprise European Developers," seasoned developer Don Daglow will explain why European online game developers need to prepare for some unique challenges when creating a title for players across the Atlantic. Daglow helped create the original Neverwinter Nights (the AOL graphic MMO), and has been working on online games for more than 25 years, and in this session he'll detail some of the counter-intuitive behavior patterns he's observed in North American game players. With this knowledge in mind, European studios will be more prepared than ever to make a game that can succeed overseas. - Over in the Visual Arts track, Florian Zender of German studio Yager Entertainment will share some useful visual effects tips in "Bringing Home the Bacon - Developing the VFX of Spec Ops: The Line as Thin Slices." Using examples from Yager's upcoming third-person shooter, Zender will detail the studio's "quick and highly iterative approach" to visual effects production, offering advice on how to "cope with a quickly growing team, buffer various schedule changes and keep morale high when finalizing the project." These talks join other previously-announced sessions such as a keynote from Epic Games on mobile graphics and Infinity Blade, a look at Hitman: Absolution's crowd system, and a robust keynote on Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III. For a full list of all GDC Europe sessions announced thus far, check out the show's newly launched Schedule Builder. Keep an eye out for even more exciting keynotes and sessions, and GDC Europe organizers have plenty more in store before the event opens its doors this August. Those interested in attending GDC Europe can secure their pass for the Gamescom co-located event now, as early registration is now open until July 18th. For more information on GDC Europe, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. GDC Europe is owned and operated by Gamasutra parent company UBM Technology.