GDC Canada 2010 Confirms Zynga, IUGO, Fortugno Talks

Author: by Staff

Organizers of this May's GDC Canada event in Vancouver, BC have confirmed the first social game and iPhone lectures for the event, with speakers from Zynga (Farmville), iPhone experts IUGO, and Diner Dash creator Nick Fortugno discussing major emerging markets. Registration is now open for the event at the Vancouver Convention Centre, which talkes place on May 6th and 7th -- with early, reduced-price passes only available until the end of March. This year, new tracks will focus on more hot games industry topics including digital distribution, social games, and iPhone games. Some of the initially announced highlights for these vital tracks, many of which are bringing major creators to the Canadian market for the first time, are as follows: - In 'Building Social Games: Games at the Speed of Light', Zynga VP and Farmville GM Bill Mooney discusses how "The social gaming market is exploding - viral propagation across the world, low barriers to entry which create agile competitors, and a rapidly changing and imperfectly understood marketplace." In this key lecture, Mooney "walks through key learnings from his time making [major] Zynga franchises Mafia Wars and FarmVille." - A lecture called 'A Tale of 14 Apps: IUGO's App Store Journey' sees Sarah Thomson, business development director of the Toy Bot Diaries and Zombie Attack! iPhone game creator discuss "what is working on the App Store and what isn’t, what factors, internal and external, contribute to an app’s success or failure." - Presenting a lecture called 'The Art of Conversion: How to Manage Players through Your Game Service', Playmatics co-founder Nick Fortugno (lead designer of casual smash Diner Dash) and Media Shifters' Andrew Mayer will discuss new digital models of monetizing game players, including "converting platform users into game players, converting players into viral advocates, and, most importantly, converting your user base into paying customers." The event will also once again host tracks about game design, business and production, programming, and visual arts. GDC Canada, presented by Reboot Communications and this website's parent the UBM Techweb Game Network, will also host evening networking events, as well as an expo hall. More information on the 2010 GDC Canada event, including pricing specifics, lectures announced to date and registration deadlines, are available on the official GDC Canada website.