Worldwide Game Developers to Convene in San Francisco's Moscone Center March 23-27

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Game Developers Conference(R) (GDC), returns this year to the Moscone Center in San Francisco with world-class programming for the art, science and business of developing digital entertainment. This year's conference produced by the Think Services Game Group features five days of top selected keynotes, sessions, panel discussions, and roundtables aimed at furthering the skills and opportunities for game developers and business. A new set of summits that encompass the expanding scope of the games industry are also included in the lineup as well as evening events aimed at promoting learning, networking and inspiration. Registration and conference information is available online at the official GDC website, http://www.gdconf.com. The conference takes place from March 23-27, 2009.

GDC continues to serve as a forum addressing the most current game development methods, trends, technologies and issues facing the community with session tracks focusing on game audio, business management, design, production, and visual art. The conference will continue to offer core educational one and two day tutorials and sponsored developer days. The slate of new specialized summits added to this year's lineup includes the AI Summit -- focusing on the increasing importance of cutting-edge artificial intelligence in video games -- and the Localization Summit -- focusing on the importance of developers learning to adjust to the linguistic and cultural differences between a constantly expanding set of national audiences.

    The entire GDC Summit Lineup for 2009 now includes:

    -- AI Summit
    -- Casual Games Summit
    -- Game Outsourcing Summit
    -- GDC Mobile
    -- Independent Games Summit
    -- IGDA Education Summit
    -- Localization Summit
    -- Serious Games Summit
    -- Worlds in Motion Summit

"The Game Developers Conference prides itself on continually improving the conference experience based on the needs of our attendees and the industry," says Meggan Scavio, Event Director and 10 year GDC veteran. "With the help of feedback from the community, our advisory board, and editorial staff, we've crafted a conference this year that speaks to the changing landscape of the games industry. You can expect more specialized content through our new and existing summits in conjunction with compelling talks in our main conference. Attendees can also expect a more customized experience and improved scheduling features through our revamp of the myGDC application re-launching in 2009."

The enhanced myGDC online networking tool for the Game Developers Conference(R) allows users to create customized profiles, save and share personalized schedules and discuss session topics in myGDC forums. The aim of this tool is to reconcile the increasing scope of the conference with the limited time of the attendee. myGDC is also introducing the new myGDC Vault, a virtual hub with video, audio and other premier content from GDC. All GDC09 registrants gain lifetime access to the myGDC community of more than 5,000 designers, programmers, publishers and game professionals.

The week-long event will continue to feature popular GDC mainstays, like the GDC Expo, GDC Career Pavilion, the 11th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF), the 9th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, and the Game Career Seminar. GDC will also play host to a number of networking events for publishers and developers of all platforms, including serious, casual and mobile companies, these events include the annual GDC Booth Crawl, Suite Night, Game Connection and the GDC World Mixer. Additional details, prices and registration for attendee passes, and information on the GDC advisory board are available now at http://www.gdconf.com.

About the Think Services Game Group

A core provider of essential information to the professional game industry, 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 Game Developer Magazine, Game Developer Research, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, GameCareerGuide.com, WorldsInMotion.biz, GameSetWatch.com, GamesOnDeck.com, SeriousGamesSource.com, the Game Developers Conference(R), the Austin Game Developers Conference(R), the Paris Game Developers Conference(R), GDC Mobile, the Game Career Seminars, the Independent Games Festival and Summit, and the Game Developers Choice Awards. For more information, please visit http://www.tsgamegroup.com/).

About United Business Media Limited ( http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)

United Business Media Limited (UBM) is a global media and marketing services company that informs markets and brings the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. UBM serves professional and commercial communities, from IT professionals to doctors, from journalists to jewelry dealers, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. UBM employs more than 6,500 people in more than 30 countries. UBM's businesses operating in the US include CMPMedica, Commonwealth Business Media, Everything Channel, PR Newswire, RISI, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services. UBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (UBM.L) and has a market capitalization of $2.5 billion.

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