GDC Summits

The 2009 Game Developers Conference® will feature nine focused summits to foster community-building within emerging sectors of the game industry. These summits run on Monday, March 23rd and Tuesday, March 24th and are accessible with GDC Summits & Tutorials Pass and GDC All Access Passes.

We are no longer accepting speaking proposals for the 2009 GDC Summits.

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New keynotes, sessions and speaker updates for summits
just announced, click on the individual summits to see what's new.

AI Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Room 2018, West Hall

The new AI Summit at GDC features panels and lectures from more than a dozen of the top game AI programmers in the industry. Organized as a collective effort by the newly formed AI Game Programmers Guild, this event promises to give you an inside look at key architectures and issues within successful commercial games, as well as let you eavesdrop on conversations, debates, and rants that typically happen behind-the-scenes at GDC. This summit is targeted toward the intermediate to advanced programmer who wants deeper insight into the world of game AI, however all levels of programmers and game designers will find invaluable insights and lessons from the speakers.

To view all AI Summit sessions, click here.

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Casual Games Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Room 135, North Hall

The game industry as a whole is making clear efforts to appeal to the vast population beyond core gamers. As more and more players enter the casual space, competition in some parts of the casual game industry are becoming more and more crowded. This year’s program will evaluate opportunities and challenges of Red Ocean (established markets, audiences, and players) and Blue Ocean (newly recognized or created markets addressing new segments) approaches in casual games, looking at hot topics like publisher’s funding criteria, optimizing the portal, the state of monetization, common design pitfalls, connecting people through casual games, and emerging platforms and business models. Chart your course, take a deep dive and ask yourself: which sea are you sailing on?

To view all Casual Games Summit sessions, click here.

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Game Outsourcing Summit

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Room 2014, West Hall

Outsourcing is here to stay and you want to stay informed! As an integral part of the game development process that affects everyone from publisher to developer it’s one of the hottest topics in gaming. If you’re making the transition to outsourcing and need solid, useful advice from industry professionals, the Outsource Summit is the event to attend. Get a glimpse at what to expect when you visit China or India. Learn how different outsource leaders run their processes. Meet other developers, outsource providers and get the information you need to make the best decisions and your own outsource effort a total success!

To view all Game Outsourcing Summit sessions, click here.

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GDC Mobile

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Rooms 121, 130, 134, North Hall

GDC Mobile is the premier professional conference for the creators, publishers, and distributors of mobile games. This event provides mobile game developers from around the globe the opportunity to debate and share their vision of the future of this medium with executives from leading mobile network operators, advanced technology providers, handset manufacturers, and major console game publishers.

2009 is a seminal year for mobile games, with several major new platforms entering the market. GDC Mobile will provide developers with the best information about the evolving landscape and highlight innovation and creativity in mobile game design. GDC Mobile 2009 will feature lectures and roundtable discussions that highlight the nuts and bolts of programming, deals, distribution, and overall game conception with special attention to new platforms: iPhone, Nokia Symbian, Google Android, LiMo and Windows Mobile!

To view all GDC Mobile sessions, click here.

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IGDA Education Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Rooms 2002 & 2004, West Hall

Essential Tools for Game Education Success
At the 2009 IGDA Education Summit game educators will discover experimental and inventive educational approaches that they can bring back to the classroom. This is a rare professional development opportunity for novice or experienced game educators alike. In this 2-day /2-track workshop we will be exploring areas of innovative design and programming. There will be game blasts, post-mortems, interactive hands-on workshop sessions, great keynote speakers, a poster session and a networking lunch with industry. Special invited keynotes will be given by Jane McGonigal from the Institute of the Future and Jesse Schell from ETC Carnegie Mellon and Schell Games. The overall goal is for participants of this workshop to be able to integrate knowledge gained into new classroom activities, resources, discussions and curricula.

To view all IGDA Education Summit sessions, click here.

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Independent Games Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Room 131, North Hall

The Independent Games Summit represents the voice of the independent game developer at GDC. It features lectures, postmortems and roundtables from some of the most notable independent game creators, including many former and current Independent Games Festival finalists and winners. The 2009 Independent Games Summit seeks to highlight the brightest and the best of indie development, with discussions ranging from game design philosophy, distribution, business, marketing, and much more.

To view all Independent Games Summit sessions, click here.

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Localization Summit

Monday, March 23, 2009
Room 2014, West Hall

The demand for entertainment software is coming from a growing number of countries and emerging markets around the world, and has prompted game publishers to partially or fully localize products to maximize their ROI. The game industry is generating as much, if not more, revenue from their localized versions. Now more than ever, the global market demands more streamlined internationalization and localization processes. The old approach of simply translating a few phrases embedded in the game code at the end of the process can only devalue the title. Game localization is becoming an unavoidable, mission critical aspect that must be fully integrated into game development lifecycles.

This new Localization Summit at GDC is supported and organized by the IGDA Game Localization SIG, and it is aimed at helping game professionals understand how to plan for localization in order to minimize bugs and maximize ROI. Professionals from all departments and areas of expertise are welcome to participate.

To view all Localization Summit sessions, click here.

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Serious Games Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Room 3007, West Hall

The Serious Games Summit at GDC spotlights the rapidly growing serious games industry that features the use of interactive games technology within non-entertainment sectors. The summit provides a forum for game developers and industry professionals to examine the future course of serious games development in areas such as education, government, health, military, science, corporate training, first responders, and social change.

To view all Serious Games Summit sessions, click here.

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Worlds in Motion Summit

Monday & Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009
Room 132, North Hall

The Worlds in Motion Summit is a definitive event tailored for the growing number of industry professionals and Fortune 500 companies developing interactive online spaces for both entertainment and commercial purposes. Discussion forums will delve into online worlds, social gaming and media and player created activity, providing insight for developers of all backgrounds into how the game industry is collectively building socialization into games and integrating personalization and player-generated content into gameplay—while widely accessible Web and networking tools are looking to the game industry for their way forward. The summit will also debate the future of gaming, which may lie in the convergence of these new frontiers.

To view all Worlds in Motion Summit sessions, click here.

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For GDC 2009 Tutorials, click here.

To view all sessions, click here.

To register for GDC 2009 Summits, you will need to purchase an All Access Pass or Summits and Tutorials Pass.

Please email Jennifer Steele for program questions regarding all GDC Summits.