GDC Europe 2011 Reveals Keynote From Epic President Mike Capps

Author: by Staff

GDC Europe organizers have announced that Epic Games president Dr. Michael Capps will give a keynote at next month's GDC Europe, revealing secrets behind the studio's major releases, from big-budget shooters such as Gears of War to mobile titles like Infinity Blade. Capps will join Ultima creator Richard Garriott and Wooga founder Jens Begemann as the third keynote speaker to be announced for the 2011 Game Developers Conference Europe, which will take place August 15-17, and is located in Cologne, Germany alongside gamescom, the leading European trade and consumer show. The keynote, titled "Size Doesn’t Matter: How Epic Brings AAA Attitude to Every Game, from Gears of War 3 to Infinity Blade", will delve into Epic's development process for its various games, which range from AAA console titles to mobile releases and classic PC shooters. Dr. Capps will discuss the key development similarities that pervade all of Epic's projects, even when team sizes and budgets differ wildly. He will also cite specific examples of how the studio benefits from its shared staff and infrastructure, using examples from the upcoming Gears of War 3. In addition to serving as Epic's president, Dr. Capps is also an advisory board member for the Game Developers Conference, and holds a seat on the boards for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and the Entertainment Software Association. Before entering the game industry, Dr. Capps worked as a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, specializing in defense and entertainment collaboration, virtual reality, and computer graphics. He holds degrees in computer science and electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina and MIT, and a doctorate in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School. "Epic’s name is one of the few that resonates just as much with the game makers as it does the game players – having brought to market arguably the most successful game engine of all time, alongside major game franchises such as Gears of War," said Frank Sliwka, VP of European business development and event director for GDC Europe. "GDC Europe attendees will take away many valuable lessons from Dr. Capps and leave with new insights on how best to maximize resources." The conference, taking place Monday through Wednesday August 15-17, 2011 in Cologne, Germany, aims to present the leading game industry event for developers, consumers, publishers and trade professionals. GDC Europe is part of the UBM TechWeb Game Network. GDC Europe organizers would also like to remind potential attendees that Early Registration pricing for the show will end this week on Wednesday, July 20th, with reduced-price registration for the event only available until that date. For more information on GDC Europe as the event takes shape, please visit the official GDC Europe website, or subscribe to updates from the new GDC Europe-specific news page in RSS form, official Twitter page, or official Facebook page.