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Naugural GDC Europe 2009 Hosts 1,500 Professionals

 Think Services’ Game Developers Conference® Europe (GDC Europe) concluded on Wednesday, August 19 with a final count of nearly 1,500   professionals and aspiring game developers in attendance at the Cologne Congress East Center in Cologne, Germany.  GDC Europe is the largest professionals-only game industry event in Europe providing a platform for game makers from all across the continent and the world to share best practices, inspire one another and make new connections while sharing and celebrating advancements in interactive entertainment.  The three day event featured a full lineup of more than 130 speakers from around the world, over 40 exhibitors and sponsors, and more than 250 media representatives presenting keynotes addresses, lectures, panels, discussions, and sessions.  GDC Europe returns to Cologne, Germany on August 16-18, 2010.

 Keynote speaker Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek, kicked off the conference Monday with a keynote lecture before a packed audience where he discussed the challenges of creating the gaming world’s most graphically-intense gameplay experiences, and creating the technology for gaming platforms that won’t exist until three years in the future.  Matias Myllyrinne, Managing Director of Finland’s Remedy Entertainment, covered the topic of creating successful new intellectual property for games during his keynote speech on Monday, referencing the company’s blockbuster shooter franchise, Max Payne and their hotly-anticipated Alan Wake.

 During his keynote speech on Tuesday, CEO of Icelandic game developer CCP Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, made the unexpected announcement of Dust 514, a console-based massively multiplayer online first person shooter set within the world of EVE Online, CCP’s landmark massively multiplayer title, which now boasts an audience of more than 300,000 active users.  Tuesday also saw the keynote from David Cage, founder and CEO of Quantic Dream, in which Cage discussed conquering the challenges of expressing mature, emotionally resonant interactive narratives for games, and how these challenges are being addressed in his company’s upcoming title, Heavy Rain.

 On Wednesday, Klaas Kersting, CEO of Gameforge Productions, discussed the history of the popular free massively multiplayer title, Gameforge, during his keynote.  Kersting spoke about the cultural difference between Europe and Asian game design that make Gameforge stand out as a distinctly European take on online role playing games.

“With GDC Europe concluded, we’re happy to look back at a truly successful event that will help guide the European game industry even further into the spotlight,” said Frank Sliwka, Vice President European Business Development of Think Services Game Group.  “From Sweden to Germany, France to England, amazing developers from every corner of the continent  and throughout North America and Asia came together to make this conference truly pan-European as well as global.”

 For a more information on GDC Europe, visit: www.gdceurope.com