At this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the GDC Play showcase introduced the industry to some of the top independent and emerging game companies in the business. It marked a great opportunity for GDC attendees to check out upcoming and undiscovered projects, and this week industry professionals will get a chance to experience the showcase all over again when it makes its Austin debut at GDC Online. This time, a brand-new batch of exhibitors will be on site to demonstrate their latest games, discuss new business opportunities, and network with the GDC Online attendees. We recently got in touch with these companies to learn who they are and what makes them tick. You can check out our first set of GDC Play interviews here. The showcase itself will take place during the first two days of GDC Online, which will run Tuesay, October 9 through Thursday, October 11 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas -- but until then, here are some of the major exhibitor's at next month's GDC Play:

Blazing Soft

Blazing Soft is an independent iOS developer located in Barranquilla, Colombia. The studio has already released a mobile platformer known as CrossWolf and is currently working on a new iOS game dubbed Fluffy Cloud. "Our company was started in January of 2011 by three good friends who met playing online games. Our discussions regarding how we'd improve the games we played eventually led us towards making games ourselves. "We have made a couple games in the past for universities and innovation conventions which managed to grab us a spot in a national newspaper. Currently, we are working on a game called Fluffy Cloud. "The games we will showcase at the GDC are CrossWolf, a 2D platform runner, and also the beta version of Fluffy Cloud. We wish to gain more exposure in the mobile app community and to share our products and games. It would be even better if we can build some partnerships with other like-minded companies." - Fouad Hayoun, Blazing Soft co-founder

Bytebin

The small indie team at Bytebin is looking to follow in the footsteps of Minecraft and Terraria with a new multiplayer (and multiplatform) world-building game known as Deepworld. The game is now available for Mac, and will soon debut on both iOS and PC. "We are Bytebin, a three-person startup working on our first online game. Between us we’ve developed a number of iOS and Flash games, along with a wide variety of other applications, but this is our biggest and most exciting project to date. "Our game, Deepworld, is a 2D sandbox crafting MMO -- think Minecraft or Terraria-style digging and building, but with all the gameplay taking place in a persistent online universe filled with post-apocalyptic steampunk goodness. "We’re adding new social features all the time, from deathmatch to group challenges to a rating system for players’ in-game creations. Deepworld combines some of our favorite game elements: creative freedom, rich social interaction, an engaging and challenging game world, and an accessible, no-frills interface. "We’ll be showing the full playable game at GDC Online Play, on both Mac and iPad. We hope attendees will be excited to start exploring the world we’ve created, and be impressed by how easy it is to drop into the game from either platform. Our goal is to create a thriving in-game community and we can’t wait to welcome new players!" - Mike Laurence, Bytebin co-founder

Additional Info

GDC Play opens tomorrow in Austin, Texas at 10:00 AM Central Time. Those looking to attend the showcase (or any of the other 100+ talks at GDC Online) can purchase their passes on site. (This is the last GDC Online show in Austin -- organizers have announced a successor, Game Developers Conference Next, debuting in Los Angeles in November 2013 alongside the new App Developers Conference.) For more information on GDC Online, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.