Q&A: Putting on GDC 2009

The Game Developers Conference will descend on San Francisco next week, and with time running out before the big show, event director Meggan Scavio took time out to answer a handful of questions on the show's evolution.

With the industry undergoing a significant transformation amid a diversifying customer base, Scavio explained how the show is weathering the down economy, how GDC is pushing the indie scene to the mainstream, why gamers should care about the GDC awards in particular, and more.

GameSpot: So this is the first GDC in some time without Jamil Moledina in charge. What kind of pressure have you put on yourself to fill those shoes?

Meggan Scavio: Having worked on the event for close to 10 years now, it's a very comfortable fit. From my early days, the guiding principles of the GDC remain intact and have truly become second nature. The role of the director has always been to maintain the core values that have gotten us to where we are today. For us, content is king and the driving force behind everything that we do. Any pressure I feel stems from a personal desire to provide our audience with the most relevant content possible along with a hefty amount of new ideas, business deals, and maybe a new friend or two.

GS: Which initiatives for the show are you trying to further from years past, and which aspects of it are you taking a fresh look at this time around?

MS: The area of growth we've focused on of late has been the Summits. The Summits have been around in one form or another since our days in San Jose. They started as GDC Mobile, the Serious Games Summit, and the Casual Games Summit. This year's GDC will see a total of nine Summits with the reappearance of not only those three, but also Independent Games, Outsourcing, Worlds in Motion, and IGDA Education. Rounding these out and new this year is the AI Summit and the Localization Summit. While touched on in the main GDC, we felt all of these particular topics were significant enough to allow them a more intensive environment. They are essentially focused mini-conferences that contribute to what I hope is a well-balanced GDC week.

GS: With the economy in the shape it is, do you expect attendance to be down because companies are sending fewer people to the show, or up because more developers are looking for work and trying to make new contacts?

MS: It's interesting. While we've seen a shift in group registrations versus individual registrations, we're looking remarkably strong considering the current economic climate. There is still a value to attending GDC even if it's only as an expo attendee. We saw a lot of folks take advantage of our alumni and early-bird discounts, and I've personally seen a number of forum posts advertising carpooling and room shares. People find a way to be there.

GS: In previous years, developer "rant sessions" have proved popular GDC attractions, but they seem to have been tweaked in recent shows to avoid rocking too many boats. For instance, this year's rant session is driven by the gaming media instead of the development community. Did you have trouble finding developers to participate in the frequently negative-toned panels, or did you want to avoid putting them in the spot of having their personal opinions reported online and tied to their employers?

MS: Neither! We're only trying not to repeat the rants. This year it's a game critics' rant, which to me seems the perfect opportunity to put the journalists in the hot seat. It's their turn to get busted for speaking without the benefit of a delete button. So popular are these traditional rants that I expect to see others popping up within the GDC universe. The Independent Games Summit has its own Indie Game Maker Rant, which will no doubt turn into a spirited debate on what "indie" really means. I'm bringing popcorn.

GS: Indie gaming has found a good bit of mainstream success in recent years with hits like Braid and World of Goo. How is the way GDC addresses indie gaming changing to keep pace?

MS: I don't see us changing to keep pace at all. I see us as an active participant in the pace. The Independent Games Festival has become a benchmark in the indie game segment and a launchpad for success. World of Goo saw three nominations and two wins in the 2008 IGF Awards ceremony, and Braid was first recognized by the IGF back in 2006 with an Innovation in Game Design award. Those are just two IGF success stories. The list goes on with Audiosurf, Everyday Shooter, and Narbacular Drop, later reworked into a little game we like to call Portal. But that's only half of the story. We also support the Experimental Gameplay Workshop, the project managed by Braid creator Jon Blow. This two-hour session has seen early demos of Flow, Darwinia, and Rag Doll Kung Fu. We of course then launched the Independent Games Summit on the Monday and Tuesday of GDC. We're even beginning to localize the Independent Games Festival and Summit by bringing one or both to GDC Austin and GDC China. We're definitely doing what we can to shed light on the entire indie scene.

GS: There is an abundance of gaming award shows, many of them determined at least partly by developers. Why should we care specifically about the Game Developers Choice Awards?

MS: Because I said so? No? What if I told you it was the only event nominated and voted on entirely by the development community? There are no fees or memberships required to become nominated. The Game Developers Choice Awards are also the only awards ceremony that is free to attend. It's the one night of the year a developer can sit in a room with thousands of their peers and applaud their hard work. These awards were the first, and quite possibly the only, to honor the individual developers as well. There are developer names on those trophies, not just studios and publishers. Warm fuzzies galore.

GS: GDC always plays host to a variety of panels on up-and-coming trends and the next big things. Sometimes those panels prove to be prescient. Other times, not so much. What are the trends getting the most attention and interest from people wanting to run panels this year? What are some trends that seem to have had their shot and are no longer generating buzz on the show calendar?

MS: It seemed that last year there was a lot of focus on writing in games and creating emotion in games. This year we saw a reaction to that with a bunch of postmortems essentially asking, "Well, how did that work out for you?" I really like postmortems at GDC. I get the sense a lot of developers feel that this is an environment in which they can really share their horror stories along with their fixes. Another trend this year has been the turn towards smaller titles, perhaps in direct response to the downturned economy. How do you manage smaller teams? Is there an advantage to being an indie developer? How do you survive the squeeze? There has also been a keen focus on emerging devices this year, specifically in regards to iPhone development. There are currently 6,000 games available on the iPhone's Apps Store. It's pretty tough to deny its significance as a new gaming platform.

GS: You'll of course be busy during the show, but what single panel or presentation would you most like to be in the audience for?

MS: Easy. Game Design Challenge. The theme this year is My First Sexual Experience. Three developers are tasked to design a game around this theme, and I can't wait to see what they come up with. This is where you get to see true creativity in action. Plus, last year's returning winner, Steve Meretzky, is one of the funniest men in the industry. I predict a laugh riot. Look out.