SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications today open the Game Developers Conference(R) Canada (GDC Canada) at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center (VCEC). Building off the success of the Vancouver International Games Summit, GDC Canada will be a two day forum for Canadian developers to share best practices for fostering ingenuity and quality games, and featuring sessions with leaders of Canada's game development community. Unique to GDC Canada is its focus on cross-discipline collaboration during the production cycle with tracks dedicated to: Concept/Preproduction, Production, Finalling and Post-Launch/Analysis.

Don Mattrick, senior vice president, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft, will kick-off the inaugural GDC Canada with a keynote address scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 at 9:30 a.m. PST in room 118 of the VCEC. The keynote, "The Evolution of the Canadian Game Industry: A Conversation with Don Mattrick," will be conducted in an engaging discussion format where Mattrick will be joined onstage by Victor Lucas, creator, executive producer and co-host of "The Electric Playground." Doctors Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, co-founders of BioWare, developers of Star Wars(R): Knights of the Old Republic(TM) and Mass Effect(TM) among many others, will deliver the second keynote, entitled "Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming's New Frontier" on Wednesday, May 13 at 9:30 a.m. PST.

"For years, Canadian developers have won hard fought lessons and established best practices on how to build better games with better teams," said Izora de Lillard, event director at Think Services Game Group. "GDC Canada is an opportunity for Canadian developers to come together to learn from one another, form new connections and share ideas to reinvigorate the game development community."

GDC Canada features an expo area and networking receptions where attendees can meet with representatives from Blue Castle, Hansoft, Microsoft, Next Level Games, Radical, Relic, Super Rewards, and Yummy Interactive, among others. The complete list of event sponsors and exhibitors is available at GDC-Canada.com.

GDC Canada will also play host to the Future Play Conference @ GDC Canada, an exploration of groundbreaking ideas alongside some of the world's most interesting games researchers and developers, and the Game Career Seminar, designed for developers looking to make a career move within the industry. For more information about GDC Canada, please visit www.gdc-canada.com.

About Reboot Communications

Reboot Communications Ltd. is a Canadian company based in British Columbia, that specializes in organizing and implementing national and international conferences focused on information technology, public safety, privacy and security, health, electronic gaming and counterterrorism. Over the past twelve years, Reboot has provided a full spectrum of conference management services to the private and public sector, including: marketing and communications, logistics, agenda development, sponsorship sales, research and intergovernmental expertise. For more information please visit: http://www.rebootconference.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), Game Developers Conference(R) Austin, Game Developers Conference(R) Europe, Game Developers Conference(R) China, 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/).

    Contact:  Teresa Tyndorf / Brian Rubin
              fortyseven communications
              323.658.1200 / 212.391.4707
              teresa@fortyseven.com / brian@fortyseven.com

              Ahmad White
              Think Services Game Group
              awhite@think-services.com
              415-947-6207

Web site: http://www.tsgamegroup.com/
http://www.rebootconference.com/
http://www.gdc-canada.com/