28th Annual Gathering of the World's Largest Professionals-Only Game Industry Event Offers Robust Content, Debuts New Classic Studio Postmortem and Increases Focus on Advocacy and Social Issues in Game Development

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, 2014 — (PRNewswire) — The 2014 Game Developers Conference® (GDC 2014), the world's largest and longest-running event serving professionals dedicated to the art and science of making games, commences today at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. GDC 2014, which runs through Friday, March 21, brings together game professionals from across the globe to the industry's top destination for learning, inspiration and networking.

GDC 2014 offers five days of lectures, panels, tutorials, roundtable discussions and networking events, together with the Independent Games Festival (IGF) and Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCAs) ceremonies, and the most comprehensive Expo Floor of its kind. Beginning today, Monday, March 17 and continuing tomorrow, Tuesday, March 18, GDC will feature a lineup of eight summits dedicated to specific sectors of the industry, ranging from the Independent Games Summit, to the Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit, Localization Summit, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit, GDC Education Summit, QA Summit, the Game Narrative Summit and the Free to Play Design & Business Summit.

The main conference begins on Wednesday, March 19 with the GDC Flash Forward, a first-look at the breadth of sessions taking place Wednesday through Friday. A curated selection of main conference speakers will have a brief 30 seconds to captivate attendees on stage with an overview of their session. Highlights of the main conference this year include the introduction of a Classic Studio Postmortem, alongside the popular Classic Game Postmortem series. The debut Classic Studio Postmortem will examine the early days of the revolutionary Lucasfilm Games studio. Additionally, GDC 2014 will feature a much-expanded Advocacy Track that will offer progressive sessions focused on social issues ranging from LGBT issues within both games and the development community, to women in games, issues of race, disabled gamers, depression amongst game developers, dealing with internet negativity and more.

The award ceremonies for the IGF, the most prestigious independent video game awards and the GDCA, which celebrate the year's leading games across a range of categories, will take place on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:30 pm during GDC. The awards will honor the year's best video games, and feature more than 40 IGF finalists and 50 GDCA nominees.

Returning for a third consecutive year, GDC Play will provide a rare opportunity for emerging developers to spotlight their games and network with leading distributors, publishers, press and investors attending the conference. Independent from the main Expo Floor, this unique business initiative features a diverse catalog of playable games from promising developers looking to launch their games into the market.  

The newly expanded Interactive Spaces will showcase engrossing events and activities throughout the conference. These spaces include exhibits that touch on gaming's past, present and future, like the Videogame History Musuem, which is presenting "The History of Nintendo," alt.ctrl.GDC explores cool and unusual control methods in games (i.e. foot pedals, briefcases and telephone receivers), and The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE) is presenting an exhibit on the illustrious history of Lucasfilm Games. Gamers can also look forward to Interactive Spaces with participatory games and activities, like the Indie MEGABOOTH Showcase, which features a collection of the latest and greatest indies. iam8bit Productions is presenting "You've Got Game Show!," a rapid-fire trivia competition, and GDC will host "Doing it on the Table," a dedicated space for participants to try out tabletop games created by video game designers.

"For 28 years, the games industry has matured in technology, size and complexity, and GDC has evolved with it. But more importantly, the event is working to become more inclusive, giving rise to the Advocacy Track to raise awareness for social issues and diversity within games, development teams and fan communities," says Meggan Scavio, general manager of the Game Developers Conference. "We're honored to set the stage for developers of all stripes to make their mark and further the craft, art and science of making games, which has always been the legacy of GDC."

In total, the GDC consists of more than 400 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions, providing a wealth of game development topics presented by noteworthy industry professionals. Additionally, the event also features an Expo Floor featuring nearly 350 exhibitors, the GDC Career Center, Business Center, the Game Career Seminar, a variety of Interactive Spaces, and more.

For additional information about the 2014 Game Developers Conference or to register online, visit www.gdconf.com.

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