UBM TechWeb Game Network’s third annual Game Developers Conference China (GDC China) begins at the Shanghai International Convention Center. The conference brings together a diverse lineup of more than 40 speakers from around the world to discuss the thriving global game development market. The event provides local and international developers the forum to explore business opportunities, expand their reach to a unique market, and discover the on-going trends emerging in this region. GDC China 2010 runs until Tuesday, Dec. 7.
This year, Square Enix senior vice president Hiromichi Tanaka will provide the first keynote address for the conference on Monday, December 6. In the keynote, ‘Final Fantasy XI & XIV: Developing and Operating a Cross-platform, Cross-region MMORPG’, Tanaka will discuss “the managerial know-how fostered during the lifespans of Final Fantasy XI and the newly released Final Fantasy XIV, with a focus on our team’s global distribution-based development concept and RMT countermeasures.”
Bill Roper, the former Chief Creative Officer of Cryptic Studios and the driving force behind the creation of the genre-defining Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo series, will present the second keynote presentation on Tuesday, December 7. In this address, entitled, “Following in Asia’s Footsteps,” the developer will be providing an inside look at how the game industry in the Western world has learned from Asia’s successes in both development and business models.
GDC China offers attendees a comprehensive look at the games space through specialized content tracks focusing on Online Game Development and Business, as well as Global Game Development/Outsourcing. There are also four summits this year exploring current topics in game development such as Mobile Games, Independent Games, Serious Games and Social Games with global speakers represented from studios and companies including Joyport Technology Ltd, Autodesk, Volition, Riot Games, XPEC Entertainment Inc., NetEase, CCP, Playdom, Bioware, Playfish China, Activision, Cryptic Studios, Ubisoft, Zynga, and many more.
GDC China will also host the 2nd Annual Independent Games Festival China (IGF China), to recognize the best independent game developers in the Asian-Pacific region. As part of IGF China, three main events will take place including the Independent Games Summit, the Independent Games Festival Pavilion, which is an onsite exhibition of the very best in local indie games, and the Independent Games Festival Awards, which rewards the best indie game developers with cash prizes for the most innovative and inspirational independent titles. Finalists this year feature Indie games from China, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia.
“We are very excited to be returning to Shanghai and opening the doors to developers from the East and West today for GDC China,” said Meggan Scavio, GDC China event director. “We’re confident that the conference content and the growing participation from the community will result in meaningful experiences for the attendees.”
This year’s conference also features more than 50 exhibitors and sponsors worldwide with companies represented by China, Europe and North America including HP, The9, XPEC, Trinigy, Level 3, Dell, HiGame, Paypal, Scaleform, Intel, Academy of Art, Mobile first, Jadason Technology, 6waves, Autodesk, Xuhui, Zizhu, and many more.
