GDC Europe 2016 debuts Hitman, Daglow as first sessions

Organizers of GDC Europe 2016 are pleased to announce first sessions for the Cologne, Germany-based European edition of the world's largest game developer event - including a Hitman level design talk from Io Interactive & an inspirational talk from 45-year video game veteran Don Daglow.

The event runs August 15th and 16th at the Cologne Congress-Centrum Ost venue in Cologne, Germany - the same venue as massive trade/consumer games fair Gamescom, which kicks off the next day. All GDC Europe badgeholders will also receive a 'trade fair' pass to attend Gamescom itself, a significant benefit.

With a large amount of session announcements due over the next few weeks, the initial set of talks revealed by organizers are as follows:

- Io Interactive's Jacob Mikkelsen & Mette Poedenphant Andersen will present 'Level design in Hitman: Guiding players in a non-linear sandbox', discussing the latest incarnation of Square Enix's hit stealth action game.

The talk, based around issues with the difficulty curve of the game's first level being very high for new players, is intended to "illuminate the challenges of designing the tutorial and a linear guidance system in Hitman to support the open-ended sandbox structure of the game."

- Stormfront Studios founder Don Daglow, who has over 45 years in active video game development, from PDP-10 to PlayStation 4, will discuss '8 Keys to a Long Career in Games', an inspirational talk from the highly rated speaker that looks at what you want from your career, being a generalist vs. a specialist, and the traits that will help you survive long term in the games business.

- In addition, Independent Games Summit organizers are preparing a dynamic one-day program for Monday, August 15th, and the first confirmed talk is the return of the European Innovative Games Showcase, with Jonatan Van Hove & Lea Schönfelder against helping picking and shepherd some of the territory's most interesting new indie game ideas. Submissions for the 2016 EIGS will open soon, and last year's EIGS is available to view in its entirety on GDC's YouTube channel.

As well as access to Europe's leading sessions on video game development, GDC Europe passholders can check out the focused Expo area of the event, featuring a number of leading companies - as well as being able to access Gamescom's Business Center areas.

Registration is now open for GDC Europe 2016, and discounts are in effect until July 20th - more information is available on the GDC Europe website.