GDC Next adds talks on Starcraft II and the secret life of ads

GDC Next 2014 featuring ADC is fast approaching, and today the organizers are happy to announce two more great talks that will take place at this year's November conference. Blizzard Entertainment's Jordan Womack will join speakers from MIT's Game Lab and the GameHeart mod project to discuss how modders can shape the growth of games as eSports, while app monetization expert Michael Wright will run down the lifecycle of an ad from start to finish to help developers better understand the state of the contemporary ad market. GDC Next and ADC, which aim to highlight practical ways for developers to increase the creative and financial success of their projects, are taking place simultaneously on November 3rd-4th, 2014 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Mere hours remain until early registration for GDC Next featuring ADC closes at 11:59 PM PT today, so conference organizers are encouraging anyone interested in attending to register now at the discounted rate. As part of the new GDC Next eSports Summit, a coterie of speakers from Blizzard, MIT's Game Lab and the GameHeart mod project will detail how they worked together to rapidly iterate on the observer experience of Starcraft II as an eSport. During their talk, "Starcraft II and GameHeart: Evolving eSports Interfaces with Modders," each presenter will individually retrace the experiences and best practices in the project, examining how communication between game developers, content-creating fans, and tournament organizers can push further experimentation with the live presentation of competitive digital games. Developers will walk away with a first-hand understanding of how to design iterative loops that allow an eSport to respond dynamically to the changing needs of a simultaneously maturing and broadening audience. As part of GDC Next's featured App Developers Conference, LiveRail's Michael Wright will be leading a session aimed at helping developers better understand the advertising ecosystem -- and how it might affect their work. The talk, "Advertising 101: The Journey of an Ad from Marketer to Consumer," Wright will attempt to offer a comprehensive overview of the lifecycle of an ad, all the way from brand to user, in the hope of providing a clearer understanding of the journey of an ad impression, including all the companies it touches along the way before it reaches a developer's users. Conference organizers look forward to announcing more talks in the weeks before this year's GDC Next featuring ADC, which takes place November 3rd-4th, 2014 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For additional details about GDC Next and ADC or to register for the event, visit the conference homepage. Gamasutra, GDC and ADC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.