2K Games and Turtle Rock Studios, as well as eSports tournament organizer ESL, will have an Evolve tournament during PAX EAST 2015. The tournament will take place on March 6th from 10am to 7am ET at the PAX East ESL Arena. Eight teams featuring a mix of professional eSports players and amateurs will compete in the tournament. The tournament will be single elimination and will see teams face-off as monsters and hunters in the best of three matches. The tournament can be seen on Evolve’s twitch channel.
Comic-Con 2015 Sells Out in Just Under an Hour
The grand-daddy of all Comic-Cons, the San Diego Comic-Con, sold out all tickets in less than an hour (59 minutes to be more exact) on February 21st, which is, by some estimates, a record-setting pace to move so many tickets. No doubt that left a lot of unhappy customers waiting in queue, given the incredibly high demand and need for a queue to begin with.
Comic-Con draws around 130,000 attendees annually. which amounts to stuffing most of the attendees from a CES in sprawling Las Vegas and its gargantuan convention center and hotels into the San Diego Convention Center and Gaslamp Quarter.
Comic-Con currently is committed to San Diego through at least 2016, in large measure because a 33% expansion to the too-small San Diego Convention Center (SDCC) was going to be approved via a proposed $520 million levy on nearby hotels, as has been reported by some. However, that measure was struck down in court in August last year. No alternative fund-raising option has since passed to address the space issue that dogs the SDCC.
To incentivize continued participation from organizers and attendees, “The tourism agency is currently seeking agreements from hotels in the Comic-Con convention room block to not raise their rates above 2016 levels for the years 2017 and 2018, but there are still some holdouts, said Tourism Authority CEO Joe Terzi. During last year’s convention, discounted nightly room rates ranged from a low of $161 a night to $380,” according to UT San Diego. Other cities, such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Anaheim, are reported to be pursuing the opportunity to host Comic-Con after 2016.
It’s possible if the powers that be in San Diego work some magic with their convention center, or any new tourism authority and venue organizer is hosting by 2017, they will be able to open the doors a little wider, while also making the registration process a little more hopeful and a little less painful. Then, more of the eager community seeking to attend Comic-Con “Prime” will get the chance to do so.
The best events and panels for PAX EAST 2015
The first major gaming convention is coming up soon, and because last year’s PAX EAST was a big success more big names are showing up to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this year. Penny Arcade has just published the official schedule for PAX EAST 2015:
Friday (March 6th)
- 10:30AM: Blizzard Preview – Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm (Albatross Theatre)
- 11:00AM: Inner-Demons – Anxiety and Depression in Gamers (Condor Theatre)
- 12:00PM: 3-D Printing 101 – Turning Polygons into Plastic Plaything (Cuttlefish Theatre)
- 1:30PM: Voice Acting in Indie Games – Secrets From Behind the Mic (Cuttlefish Theatre)
- 4:30PM: Youtube Gaming Evoluition (Albatross Theatre)
- 7:00PM: MMORPG.com – Future of Online Games (Dragonfly Theatre)
- 8:00PM: Super Smash Bros. Tournament – Part 1
Saturday (March 7th)
- 10:30AM: Penny Arcade – Make a Strip (Main Theatre)
- 11:30AM: Awesome Video Game Data 2015 (Bobcat Theatre)
- 12:00PM: Talking Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward with Naoki Yoshida (Albatross Theatre)
- 2:00PM: The Universality of Video Games Music (Arachnid Theatre)
- 3:00PM: Behind the Game Design of Final Fantasy XV (Albatross Theatre)
- 7:30PM: Twitch Town Hall – Pitch Twitch + Q&A (Albatross Theatre)
Sunday (March 8th)
- 10:00AM: Team Indie MEGABOOTH on How to Get Ahead in Indie (Dragonfly Theatre)
- 10:30AM: Introducing Game Programming to High School Students (Cuttlefish Theatre)
- 12:30PM: Even More Dark Stories from Online Games (Condor Theatre)
- 1:00PM: GameOverGreggy Show – Why We Left $100,000 for 100,000 Subs (Dragonfly Theatre)
- 4:00PM: Is This Real Life? – No Escape from Virtual Reality (Dragonfly Theatre)
Visit the PAX East website for more information on other events:
GDC 2015: No business like show business
From Gamasutra: UBM Tech’s Simon Carless explains why fame isn’t everything at the San Francisco show
The Game Developers Conference is just a week away and yet again plays host to some of the biggest, and the smallest, names in the industry. Unlike many shows, GDC isn’t just about getting the big players to talk about what they have done, but getting the rising stars to talk about what they’re trying to do.
We spoke to UBM Tech’s Simon Carless about how the show achieves that balance, what it’s doing to make the show more accessible to a wider audience and ask if the industry’s troubled year has changed the show in any way.
“Some shows definitely strive to have the biggest people in the industry on stage, but if you look at the people we have on stage – even this year – there’s not always that many big names,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz
“There’s a lot of interesting talks but I think one of the things I’m proudest of is that in general we’re fairly good at saying this has to be a talk that’s going to help, and has to have a take away and we’re not going to put somebody on stage just because they’re famous. I’m not saying we’re perfect, but I think we try.”
Read more at Gamasutra.
Twitch Announces TwitchCon 2015 (PR)
First official Twitch community convention comes to Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA on September 25-26
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – February 20, 2015 – Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, today announced TwitchCon 2015, the company’s first ever convention dedicated to Twitch’s community of partners, broadcasters, and viewers.
- What: TwitchCon
- When: September 25-26, 2015
- Where: Moscone West, San Francisco, CA
Created as a celebration of all things Twitch, the convention will attract members of the Twitch community from all over the globe. Attendees will have the chance to mingle with each other and their favorite broadcasters, experience live content from the convention center, and learn from the community’s thought-leaders.
“Twitch broadcasters have the most passionate fans, so we want to create an amazing experience where they can come together in person,” said Emmett Shear, CEO, Twitch. “TwitchCon will be an opportunity for the entire community – broadcasters, game developers, viewers, and us – to play and learn together.”
The event is being co-produced by Twitch and ReedPOP, the largest producer of pop culture events in the world.
More details about TwitchCon will be revealed over the coming months including an initial schedule and a call for content. For updates, please visit the TwitchCon homepage and subscribe to the official Twitch Twitter feed.
Keynotes Announced for NVIDIA’s GTC 2015
NVIDIA has been pouring out announcement, previews and teaser news in the last couple weeks, for both GDC 2015 and their own GPU Tech Conference following soon thereafter. Gamers have reason to be excited about NVIDIA’s announcements at these March events, such as the possibility of a newer, more powerful SHIELD tablet formally announced.
The Santa Clara, California-based graphics and system-on-a-chip processor company has long been expanding their reach beyond the games-centric consumer core, having become established in the fields of deep learning, cloud computing, super computing, and intelligent products. Reinforcing the company’s expansive focuses, At GTC 2015, on March 18th, Jeff Dean, a Senior Fellow at Google, is speaking on building intelligent computer systems. On the 19th, Andrew NG, Chief Scientist at Baidu, will be sharing his thoughts on the topic of deep learning.
GTC 2015 will be taking place from March 17th-20th, 2015, at the San Jose Convention Center.
New NVIDIA tablet will be unveiled at GPU Technology Conference
The newest generation of the NVIDIA SHEILD Tablet is due to arrive this coming March. There were rumors this past week about the new tablet that said that the tablet will come out soon. New reports now say that the Tablet will be shown at the GPU Technology Conference on March 17. The SHEILD Tablet will have the next-generation mobile chipset from NVIDIA called Terga X1. The first edition of the tablet was released in July 2013, followed by a rollout in July 2014.
GameSpot also said that NVIDIA gave out invitations for a press event called “Made to Game” that will be part of the Game Developers Conference on March 3. Follow this link to read more about NVIDIA SHEILD tablets:
Nvidia teases big gaming announcement at Game Developers Conference
From VentureBeat: Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang sent out invitations today for a big gaming event at the Game Developers Conference, the large developer event in San Francisco the week of March 3.
Huang said that the graphics chip maker will make a presentation on the evening of March 3 in San Francisco. He said Nvidia will be demonstrating something “5 years in the making” that will “redefine the future of gaming.”
Huang most recently announced the Tegra X1 chip for car computers at the 2015 International CES. But while the chip was a supercomputer on a piece of silicon, Nvidia didn’t tout the Tegra X1 for its gaming capabilities.
Read more at VentureBeat.
RoboChop is coming to CeBIT 2015
A new installation called RoboChop will be debuting at CeBit 2015. The installation will be sponsored by the GFT Group as part of the Code_n competition. The RoboChop is an industrial robotic arm with a wire cutter that can be controlled by people through the internet. People can use an app to control the arm and carve whatever they wish out of polystyrene measuring 50 x 50 x 50 cm. Once the Robotic arm finishes carving the item, the item will be packed and shipped to the person who created it. There will be four arms at the show with 2000 blocks to use. There is no word yet as to whether or not the items will be free or if a fee is associated with the process. Visit the CeBIT 2015 to read more about the show:
Game Connection America 2015: New Products, Demos, And Development Awards To Be Featured At 4-Day Game Industry Event (PR)
Apple, Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco Games, Google, Microsoft Studios, Nintendo, Ubisoft Entertainment Among Others to Attend
San Francisco, CA, USA – February 10, 2015 – Once again, San Francisco will be the center of attention for the gaming industry when Game Connection 2015 takes place during the week of the Game Developers Conference March 2nd through March 5th, 2015.
More than a 1,000 confirmed attendees will be present at City View at METREON, across the street from the Moscone Center. Game Connection 2015’s unique meeting service provides the opportunity to demo and check out new products and services from big-name companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony and get first-hand insight on emerging trends, upcoming developments and exciting innovations – all in intimate one-on-one settings.
Game Connection 2015 enables to meet some of the largest companies in the industry, including Apple, Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco Games, Big Fish Games, Bigpoint Inc., Chillingo, DeNA, Double Fine Productions, GAMEVIL, Google, Koch Media, Microsoft Studios, Nintendo, Paradox Interactive, Rovio Entertainment, Sega Networks, Sony Mobile Communications, Tencent, and Ubisoft Entertainment.
Registered attendees are already making great use of the meeting application, the unique tool offered by Game Connection to streamline the scheduling process. Since the meeting app opened in late January, 2,000 meeting invitations had been sent within the first few days, with many more to come.
With less than one month until the event, exhibitor spaces are nearly sold out, the number of registered buyers has already surpassed the total number of the previous year, and more industry professionals are signing up each day. Interested exhibitors should contact sales@game–connection.com immediately to secure the few available spaces left.
Game Connection 2015 is the place where members from all aspects of the industry come together, from development, publishing, and funding, to production, middleware, marketing, and distribution and where big players sit side by side with indie developers and the future stars of tomorrow. The show also hosts the Game Connection Development Awards (formerly “Game Connection Selected Projects”), which recognizes and promotes independent game projects at any stage of development. Out of up to 50 entries in each of the ten categories, a judging committee of industry veterans will chose one winner each. Previous winners include Loading Human from Untold Games, White Night from OSome Studio, Contrast from Compulsion Games, Badland from Frogmind, and Limbo from PlayDead and Izle from Area Effect. Limbo from PlayDead and Izle from Area Effect. The Award Ceremony will take place on Tuesday March 3rd at 10:00 AM.
The 4-day conference also provides plenty of opportunities to socialize, with three cocktail receptions:
Monday March 2nd – 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM sponsored by TeamSpeak
Tuesday March 3rd – 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM sponsored by MediaMonk
Wednesday March 4th – 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM sponsored by Brazilian Game Developers
For more information on Game Connection America, please visit: http://www.game–connection.
Mobile Media Summit partners with Mobile World Congress
Mobile Media Summit, a mobile media and advertising conference in North America, is heading to the Mobile World Congress conference on March 4th, 2015 as an official partner. They will help with marketing and advertising for the event. The second annual Mobile Media Summit @ Mobile World Congress will be the perfect location for mobile industry leaders to discuss how mobile is shaping the future of marketing and advertising. This event will feature some of the biggest brands including Nike, MasterCard, Coca-Cola, Citi, OMD, WPP, MEC, AKQA, Mindshare, and Ogilvy.
Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing Officer at MasterCard made the following statements about the event:
“The digital transformation is upon us, and defining what mobile means to marketers is high on the priority list this year”
“The Mobile Media Summit at Mobile World Congress is an excellent opportunity for thought leaders in digital marketing to gather and share knowledge for brands ready to lead engagement with today’s connected consumer”
Follow this link to read more about Mobile Media Summit at Mobile World Congress:
More Games Industry Leaders to Appear at 2015 Quo Vadis (PR)
- First 40 Sessions published!
- Andrew Sheppard (COO of GREE International)
- Ed Fries (Microsoft Game Studios founder)
- Joost van Dreunen (CEO of SuperData Research)
- Kate Edwards (IGDA Executive Director)
- Marek Ziemak (11 bit studios/ “This War Of Mine”)
- Timo Ullman (YAGER/ “Dead Island 2”/ “Dreadnought”)
Berlin / Mülheim a.d. Ruhr, 6 February 2015: Since 2003, Quo Vadis has been the most important international game developers’ conference to be held in Germany. The expanded line-up of top international speakers to appear at its 13th edition from 21 to 23 April 2015 in Berlin now also includes: Andrew Sheppard (COO of GREE International), Ed Fries (former Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios/ co-founder of the XBOX project),
Joost van Dreunen (CEO of SuperData Research), Kate Edwards (Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association), Marek Ziemak (Senior Producer at 11 bit studios), Kacper Kwiatkowski (Game Designer, “This War Of Mine”) and Timo Ullman (CEO of YAGER). Conference organizer Aruba Events is also announcing the first 40 Sessions, which are now online on www.qvconf.com. Tickets for Quo Vadis are available on www.qvconf.com/tickets.
As part of the International Games Week Berlin in April, Quo Vadis offers game developers, industry professionals and students an exciting three-day program packed with specialist lectures, workshops, tech summits, business panels and a wide range of networking events. The topics will cover all aspects of the games industry, from the development of worldwide blockbuster games, the challenges facing start-ups and indie developers, to best-practice marketing talks and training for career starters. The complete program will be available online shortly on www.qvconf.com.
Andrew Sheppard left US mobile game developer Kabam Games in 2014 to join the Japanese competitor, GREE International. As COO of GREE, Sheppard has a hand in driving the company’s expansion course, and he will share some of his knowledge of the mobile games market at Quo Vadis.
Industry veteran Ed Fries designed his first computer game in the early eighties for the Atari 800, before joining Microsoft in 1986 to set up Microsoft Game Studios. During his tenure as Microsoft’s Vice President until 2004 he oversaw the growth of the Microsoft games division from 50 to over 1200 employees and had a pivotal role in the creation of the XBOX.
Joost van Dreunen is the CEO of SuperData Research and will examine best practice
examples of games that are both innovative and commercially successful, in his talk “How to catch a unicorn: De-risking creativity”.
Kate Edwards is the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and thus, one of the leading figures behind this globally active organization. She was named one of the “10 most powerful women in the games industry” by Fortune Magazine in 2013. At Quo Vadis, Edwards will discuss the role of women in the games sector.
Marek Ziemak (Senior Producer) of Polish game developer 11 bit studios and Kacper Kwiatkowski (Game Designer) are the creators of the acclaimed anti-war game, “This War of Mine”; that has garnered a string of international awards.
Timo Ullman (CEO of YAGER) is the publisher of “Spec Ops: The Line”, the game that sparked much debate with its profound story about the brutality and fog of war. Currently, the Berlin-based game studio is working on the eagerly awaited multi-platform title “Dead Island 2”, as well as spacecraft shooter “Dreadnought”, whose previews have already caused quite a stir.
Also confirmed for Quo Vadis 2015 are the developers of the world’s most popular game series, “Call of Duty”, Michael Condrey (Co-Founder & Studio Head of Development) and Glen Schofield (Co-Founder & General Manager) of Sledgehammer Games, as are Dorian Kieken (Project Development Director at BioWare) and Matias Myllyrinne (CEO of Remedy Entertainment).
In 2014, a total of 170 speakers presented 110 lectures and workshops which addressed current developments in the computer and video game industry. Having hosted over 2,500 visitors in 2014, Quo Vadis is about to nearly double its capacity in 2015. The established venue, Café Moskau, will be augmented by Berlin’s nearby Kino International, where the keynote presentations and other featured talks are to be held. Quo Vadis has reserved a whopping 800 sqm of floor space for the “Pitch & Match” business format which will be introduced at the conference to support games companies in their targeted business development activities
