If you were in search of this years “The One” gaming convention, look no further. It seems like the gathering in the Lone Star State is shaping up to be a veritable industry ‘who’s who’. Yesterday, GDC Austin officials announced the SOE President John Smedley will deliver a keynote speech detailing the success and lessons learned regarding the recently launched runaway tween success, Free Realms.
His address, “From Dragons and Daggers to Kart Racing, Cooking and Concerts … It’s a Whole New MMO World,” will detail how Free Realms has worked well for SOE, expanding the title’s base of players and how they engage with each other in online worlds. Smedley is also expected to “inform attendees about the challenges and lessons learned when creating a full-blown MMO for younger audiences,” and complete with research and insights. Ooo…pie charts?
This keynote is a so-to-speak homecoming for Free Realms, as the title was first officially announced at the GDC Austin in 2007. Fast forward to an April 2009 launch, and SOE has seen over 1 million registered users pass through their doors in only 10 days. According to a recent Comic-Con panel, Sony has recently past the 5 million user mark, with no signs of slowing anytime soon in sight.
If a keynote by the man behind EverQuest I and II and Free Realms wasn’t enough to get your feet moving in the right direction, remember, GDC Austin has also confirmed Blizzard co-founder Frank Pearce and World of Warcraft production director J. Allen Brack to discuss the operating challenges and lessons in the talk “The Universe of World of Warcraft.” An naturally, one of our personal favorites, Rebel Monkey CTO Jeffery Kesselman will be on hand and discussing how CampFu “combined open source technologies to build an industrial strength platform for unified multi-player casual game-play and social web experiences” in his talk, “The Monkey Wrench: Design and Architecture of an Online Environment.”
The GDC Austin event takes place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas September 15-18. This conference is the major focus of a larger gathering also featuring four two-day summits including the Game Writers, Game Audio, iPhone Games and Independent Games Summits. To find out more, visit the official GDC Austin website.
