New GDC Next talks: Star Citizen crowdfunding, Kongregate analytics

'Future of games' conference GDC Next organizers have added more exciting talks to its inaugural lineup for the Business & Marketing Discipline: Chris Roberts on the community-building lessons he learned while crowdfunding Star Citizen for $20 million, and Kongregate COO Emily Greer on analytics best (and worst) practices. GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks. Cloud Imperium Games CCO and Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts (pictured) -- who spoke to Gamasutra about his crowdfunding success -- will present a talk called 'Star Citizen: Going Beyond Crowdfunding'. In this talk, Roberts will explain his approach to cultivating and continuously engaging Star Citizen's supporter community -- and how that approach enabled them to raise more money than any other crowdfunded game and build a head start on the large player base needed to support its massive virtual universe. Also, Kongregate co-founder and COO Emily Greer will show devs how not to track player analytics in 'Data Gone Wrong: Bad Tests, Terrible KPIs and Other Pitfalls.' In this session, Greer will walk attendees through common mistakes and pitfalls -- both technical and emotional -- that devs encounter while tracking and analyzing player data. Be sure to check out the GDC Next Session Scheduler to see these and other announced talks and begin your planning. Previously announced talks include including Animoca's Henry Oh on choosing your next game platform and D&D: Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios on avoiding pay-to-win in F2P MMOs. Online registration is in full swing for GDC Next and the co-located ADC; register now and save up to $200 on ADC, GDC Next, or a combined VIP All Access Pass. For all the latest news on GDC Next, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Also, check out ADC's recently announced design talks: Intel on building scalable and secure APIs for enterprise apps, and ChaiONE on pairing the latest wearable technology with smartphones. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.