Independent Games Festival Showcase Winners Announced!
The presenters of the 11th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) proudly presents the First Annual IGF Showcase to be held at Austin GDC. Check out the nine winners that will be presenting in Austin.
Austin GDC Preview Guide Now Available!
Review the complete list of speakers, sessions, and events before you head to Austin!
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- Keynote! At Their Service: Making a Difference by Putting Players First, Lane Merrifield, Executive Vice President, Walt Disney Internet Group, Co-Founder and General Manager, Club Penguin
- How to Manage Your Online Business During Growth and Decline
Speakers:Rich Vogel (Co-Studio Director, BioWare), John Donham (Co-Founder, VP of Production, Metaplace.com) - Evolving Business for MMOs
Speakers:Robert Ferrari (VP Business Development, Turbine), Hilmar Veigar Petursson (CEO, CCP), Nicolay Nickelsen (VP, Business Development, Funcom), Min Kim (Director of Game Operations, Nexon America Inc.), Jessica Mulligan (COO, ImaginVenture SA) - Endgame: How to Build High-End Gameplay for Your Most Devoted Players
Speakers:Damion Schubert (Lead Combat Designer, Bioware Austin) - What Your Mother and Your Ten-Year Old Can Teach You About MMOs
Speakers:Nick Fortugno (President/Co-Founder, Rebel Monkey) - Wake Up and Smell the Metrics! A Rant on Metrics-Driven Development in Online Games
Speakers: Larry Mellon (Virtual Worlds Consultant), Darius Kazemi (President, Orbus Gameworks)
- Dunder Mifflin Infinity: A Case Study in Using Game Mechanics to Drive Community Behavior
Speaker: Stephen Andrade (SVP Digital Development and GM, NBC.com), Rajat Paharia (Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bunchball) - The State of Kids Virtual Worlds
Speakers: James Bower (Whyville), Chris Waldron (Cartoon Network, Fusion Fall), Teemu Huuhtanen (Sulake Inc, Habbo) - Business Use of Virtual Worlds: Case Studies for Conducting Business from Major Technology Companies
Speaker: Michael Rowe (3D Internet & v-Business & Business Management, IBM) - The Future of the Metaverse
Speakers: Sibley Verbeck (Chief Executive Officer, Electric Sheep), Victoria Coleman (Samsung Electronics), Jeffrey Pope (NGI), Mic Bowman (Intel Corporation)
Audio Track

- Keynote! Is That It? Next Gen Audio, Jason Page (Audio Manager, SCEE Technology Group)
- Why Game Composers MUST become 21st Century Artists or Face Extinction, Austin Wintory (Composer, Wintory Global Engineering)
- Iron Composer Texas, Year 1, Nathan Madsen (Composer-Sound Designer, Freelance), Jesse Searls (Composer, Sound Designer, Ohio State University), Randall Ryan (Lead Composer, HamsterBall)
View all Audio Track Sessions NOW
Writing Track
- Game Writers' Workshop
Speaker:Richard Dansky (Manager of Design/Writer, Red Storm Entertainment) - Assembly Required: A Team Game-Writing Challenge
Speaker::Patrick Redding (Game/Narrative Designer, Ubisoft Montreal) - New Interfaces, New Gamewriting Opportunities
Speakers:Chris Baker (Senior Editor, Wired Magazine), Randy Breen (Chief Product Officer, Emotiv Systems Inc.), Charles Bellfield (General Manager and Executive VP, 3DV Systems) - Writing for Socially Networked Games: Blending User-Generated Content with Storytelling
Speakers: Gabe Zichermann (CEO, rmbr), Christopher Cunningham (Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, rmbr)


- Pitch Your Game Idea
Speakers: Brandon Sheffield (Senior Editor, Game Developer Magazine/Gamasutra.com), Brandon Van Slyke (Game Designer, Vicarious Visions), Jennifer Bullard (Senior Producer, AspyrMedia) - The Game Job Interview RPG
Speakers: Eduardo Baraf (Director, Product Management, Tabula Digita), Brandon Van Slyke (Game Designer, Vicarious Visions), Jill Duffy (Editor, GameCareerGuide.com), Gordon Dutrisac (Student Services Director, DigiPen Institute of Technology) - You’re Hired! How to Get HR to Notice You
Speakers: Jennifer Bullard (Senior Producer, AspyrMedia), Paula Fellbaum (Vice President of Human Resources, Nexon Publishing NA), Ed Roman (CEO, Ghostfire Games), Jill Duffy (Editor, GameCareerGuide.com)
Learn more about all conference sessions and all speakers.
Learn more about all Austin GDC Events.
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Learn, Network, and Inspire all year round with myGDC
myGDC is the official professional networking resource for Game Developers Conferences, is now live for Austin GDC. This is a unique online vehicle where you can search, connect, and interact with over 5,000 designers, programmers, publishers, and game professionals currently in the myGDC community.
Current registrants can sign-in today and start networking.
Austin GDC Video Highlights
Only in Austin. Get ready for Austin GDC 2008 with video highlights from last year's show.
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Download an Official Austin GDC Desktop Wallpaper
Be the envy of your office with an official Austin GDC Desktop Wallpaper. Choose from starry night or clover cluster.
For Internet Explorers: Simply click through to the desktop theme you desire, "right click", save and set the image as your background.

The Austin Game Developers Conference offers discounted hotel rates to all attendees and exhibitors. Rooms are limited, and discounted rates are based on availability. Make your reservations early and mention the Austin Game Developers Conference to get the conference rate.
Be sure to make your travel arrangements early.







