Game Developers Conference Online 2011 draws record crowd

The Austin-based Game Developer Conference Online 2011 wrapped up yesterday, and the final tally of attendees for the four-day event clocked in at 3,350. These attendance numbers consisted primarily of current and aspiring game development professionals.

Two hundred and twenty six industry-leading speakers were in attendance for lectures, panels, keynotes addresses, and roundtable discussions. Highlights of these sessions include a look at mistakes made in the development of League of Legends, Neal Stephenson on the state of story in games, and a Valve roundtable on writing for silent protagonists.

The second annual GDC Online Awards saw Mojang's Minecraft and Trion Worlds' Rift as the big winners of the night, taking home two awards each. Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest was honored with an induction into the GDC Online Hall of Fame, where it joined EA's massively multiplayer online role-playing pioneer, Ultima Online.

GDC Online will return to Austin next year from October 8-11.