GDC Online 2012 reveals first details of Game Dev Start-Up Summit

Starting your own game studio is a great way to pursue your independence and enjoy complete creative freedom, but as it turns out, building a new business requires a lot of hard work. There are plenty of factors to manage and keep in mind. With that in mind, the inaugural Game Dev Start-Up Summit at this year's GDC Online in Austin promises to offer plenty of help for developers looking to strike out on their own. This one-day Summit, put together by GDC Online organizers and veteran game industry lawyer Jim Charne, will include a host of sessions that provide a step-by-step look at the issues, challenges, and realities of getting a new game company off the ground. The Summit will take place alongside the rest of GDC Online, which will be held Tuesday, October 9 to Thursday, October 11 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, and will be open to all Summits & Tutorials and All-Access Pass holders. And now, GDC Online organizers have revealed the first three talk themes in the upcoming Game Dev Start-Up Summit. The full details on these newly announced sessions are as follows: - To kick things off, the Summit speakers will host "Pre-launch - Preparing to Take the Plunge," a robust discussion of the concrete steps developers need to take to move from their previous employment to their brand-new startup. - Next, multiple speakers will discuss how to put all the pieces of your company together in "Formation: Legal and Accounting Issues." The speakers will give attendees the insight they need to find and lease an office, to select a good bookkeeper and lawyer, to establish a useful employee handbook, and much more. - In the Summit's third session, the speakers will host "Finance: Sources and Timing," covering perhaps the most important resource to a fledgling business: Money. The session will cover everything from bootstrapping, venture capital, bank loans, and many other resources that a new company will have to keep in mind. Confirmed speakers for the Game Dev Start-Up Summit thus far include notable game developers, businesspeople and legal counsel including Don Daglow (Daglow Entertainment), James Niesewand (Illyriad Games), Rob Shillingsburg (Jetbolt Games), Dan Offner (Loeb & Loeb), David Rosenbaum (Law Offices of David S Rosenbaum), David Baszucki (Roblox), Bill Graner (Crater House), and Gary Gattis (Spacetime Studios). And keep an eye out for even more from the Game Dev Start-Up Summit in the next few weeks, as these three sessions are just a few of the notable sessions to be held at the event. For more information on these or any other sessions announced for GDC Online thus far, check out the show's official Schedule Builder. Be sure to stay tuned for even more exciting keynotes and sessions, as GDC Online organizers have plenty more to announce before the event opens its doors this October. Those interested in attending GDC Online can secure their pass now, as online registration is now open. For more information on GDC Online, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.