Develop Conference Announces Satchell, Garriott

Organizers of the Develop Conference & Expo in the UK have announced that Microsoft XNA Group general manager Chris Satchell and NCsoft’s Richard Garriott will deliver keynote sessions at the event, due to take place between July 24th and 26th in Brighton. Satchell’s keynote will discuss Web 2.0, with particular reference to the social networking phenomena of YouTube and MySpace and its likely effect on the future of online gaming. “Consumer creativity and community are major forces that will shape our industry in the next ten years,” claims Satchell. “For me, this is the Web 2.0 equivalent of the creativity and passion of the bedroom programming scene I grew up with in the UK. Coming back to the UK to talk to European developers about this major evolution of our industry is a great opportunity to share Microsoft’s vision with some of the best developers in the world,” he added. Garriott, creator of the Ultima franchise and widely known as “Lord British”, is currently working on massively multiplayer online game Tabula Rasa at NCsoft Austin. His keynote session will outline his vision for the future of the genre, for both developers and users. “I am very pleased to be giving a keynote speech at the Develop Conference this year, “ said Garriott. “I’ll be taking this opportunity to share with the European development community my experiences and, hopefully, a little wisdom and inspiration, as well as taking the chance to talk about the future of development and projects I am currently working on. The conference is very important for the European development community and offers a great arena for sharing experience and demonstrating new innovation to each other, others in the industry and the media.”