GDC 2012 to Feature Sessions Led By Industry All-Stars Including Cliff Bleszinski, David Cage, Richard Lemarchand, Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux, John Romero, and Many More

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Game Developers Conference® (GDC) will once again bring the superstars of game development together at the industry's most comprehensive and longest-running professionals-only event.  Organized by the UBM TechWeb Game Network, GDC 2012 will take place March 5-9, 2012 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California.  Early Bird rates with savings up to 35% on full pass prices end this Thursday, February 2, 2012.

Sessions this year include Heavy Rain creator David Cage discussing virtual actors and giving the first public demo of the new technology his studio Quantic Dreams is using to create emotion, in his lecture "Virtual Actors and Emotion in Games."  Game design legends Cliff Bleszinski, Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux and John Romero will come together for a discussion on the key games that have and continue to influence them in the panel "Forgotten Tales Remembered: The Games That Inspired Leading Innovators."  Naughty Dog Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand will return to host the popular "GDC Microtalks," a one-hour session featuring ten prominent speakers with a variety of points-of-view, this year each considering the theme "Playing for Time."  Details on these and all of the 400+ sessions at GDC 2012 can be found at http://schedule.gdconf.com. 

This year, the main conference content begins on Wednesday, March 7, at 9:00am with the GDC's first-ever "Flash Forward" session.  The Flash Forward gives all main conference speakers the opportunity to grab attendees' attention by taking the stage for just sixty seconds each to give a brief overview of their session. The Flash Forward will provide the opportunity to hear first-hand what will be discussed in sessions taking place Wednesday-Friday, and allow attendees to decide which talks best suit their interests. The Flash Forward is expected to be a fun, fast-paced, can't-miss event.

GDC is also introducing a new format for its keynote sessions.  Rather than one central main conference keynote, GDC will feature six Track Keynotes, one for each discipline on which the main conference tracks focus, and featuring industry luminaries like Zynga COO John Schappert, Plants Vs. Zombies creator George Fan, Bungie lead engineer and favorite GDC speaker Brian Sharp and more.  The track keynotes are:

• Audio Track: "Build That Wall: Creating the Audio for Bastion," Darren Korb, Audio Director, Supergiant Games
• Business, Marketing & Management Track: "How Games Can and Must Move Cross-Platform," John Schappert, Chief Operating Officer, Zynga
• Game Design Track: "How I Got My Mom to Play Through Plants Vs. Zombies," George Fan, Senior Game Designer, PopCap
• Production Track: "Concrete Practices to be a Better Leader: Framing & Intention," Brian Sharp, Lead Engineer, Bungie
• Programming Track:  "Designing a Technology Strategy for a Large Publisher," Julian Merceron, Worldwide Technology Director, Square Enix
• Visual Arts Track: "The Art of Diablo 3," Christian Lichtner, Art Director, Blizzard Entertainment

"The pressure was on to continue to grow and evolve the GDC after our exciting and record-breaking twenty-fifth anniversary last year, but once again, the industry has topped itself by offering up even more thrilling talks that can only happen at GDC, where the entire industry converges for the love of games and pushing the boundaries of development further and further," said Meggan Scavio, GDC general manager.  "New ways to find and appreciate to the content that matters to you—like the Flash Forward, or the six discipline-specific Track Keynotes which would likely be main conference keynotes anywhere else will also make this year's GDC more valuable to attendees than ever."

For more information about the 2012 Game Developers Conference or to register online, visit www.gdconf.com.

About the UBM TechWeb Game Network 

A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, the UBM TechWeb Game Network -- formerly known as the Think Services Game Group -- offers market-defining content, and drives community through its award winning lineup of print, online, event and research products and services. These include the Game Developers Conference®, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com and network of sites, the Game Advertising Online ad network, the Game Developers Conference® Online, the Game Developers Conference™ Europe, the Game Developers Conference™ China, Game Developer Magazine, Game Developer Research, the Game Career Seminars and GameCareerGuide.com, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. Visit: www.jointhegamenetwork.com

About UBM TechWeb

UBM TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology. Through its three core businesses – media solutions, marketing services and paid content – UBM TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands and media applications in the technology market. More than 14.5 million business and technology professionals (CIOs and IT managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software Developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively engage in UBM TechWeb's communities and information resources monthly. UBM TechWeb brands includes: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and Enterprise Connect; award-winning online resources such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Network Computing; and market-leading magazines InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, and Advanced Trading. UBM TechWeb is a UBM plc company, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.  Visit: www.ubmtechweb.com

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Sandra Lew
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SOURCE UBM TechWeb Game Network