PopCap Co-Founder Vechey To Keynote GDC Online 2011

Aug 06 2011 03:00 PM | Events For Gamers in GDC Next

GDC Online has announced that PopCap co-founder John Vechey will give a keynote at the upcoming October show in Austin, Texas, where he will discuss how the Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies developer is adapting its popular single-player games to social platforms.

The keynote, titled, "Playing Well With Others - How PopCap Creates Compelling Social Game Experiences," will provide GDC Online attendees with an inside look at how mobile and social games have influenced the design philosophy of the extremely successful casual game studio.

Vechey launched PopCap in 2000 with co-founders Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka, and has been instrumental in driving nearly every aspect of the company's operations. As interim CEO of PopCap until 2003, Vechey oversaw all aspects of the company's Web presence while directing e-commerce, privacy/security and online games services.

Vechey's major contributions at PopCap include securing some of the company's largest partnerships with major Web portals and game publishers, helping to launch the immensely popular title Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook, which went from zero to 25 million users in its first twelve months, and establishing PopCap as a major player in the social games business.

Currently the VP of Internal Business Development, Vechey manages PopCap's strategic investments and acquisitions, and helps shape and guide the global business and product strategy.
Last month, Electronic Arts announced that it had acquired PopCap for $750 million, saying that the acquisition will help PopCap "rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels."

"In just a few short years, the social gaming space has evolved to be one of the key areas of online game development. PopCap, which continues to develop and deliver chart-topping casual games, has successfully brought this formula to social games." said Izora de Lillard, event director of GDC Online. "John Vechey, as co-founder, has a unique perspective and will share his insight and design philosophy to inspire developers to keep pushing the boundaries of online game development."

GDC Online, which will take place in Austin, Texas from October 10-13, 2011, continues as the leading worldwide event dedicated solely to discussing the development and business trends surrounding connected games -- including casual titles, MMOs, virtual worlds, and social networking games.

In addition, event organizers would like to point to the recently-started caption contest on the official GDC Online Facebook page. All contestants will submit captions for a cartoon supplied by the event organizers, and the caption with the most "likes" will win an All-Access pass to GDC Online 2011.

For more information on GDC Online as the event takes shape, please visit the official GDC Online website, or subscribe to updates from the new GDC Online-specific news page via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS. GDC Online is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb.