BizSpots: IGDA, GCDC, K2 Network

Charla, MacLean, Seifert appointed to IGDA board
The season for appointing new board members appears to be upon us. Last week, the CMP Games Group appointed five new members to its GDC 08 advisory board. This week, the International Game Developers Association announced the addition of several new members to its board. Among the freshly appointed are Chris Charla, director of business development at Foundation 9 Entertainment; Jennifer MacLean, VP and GM of games at Comcast Interactive Media; and Coray Seifert, associate producer at THQ's Kaos Studios. The IGDA also announced Mitzi McGilvray, who is VP of casual games at TikGames, as its new chairperson.

Speakers named for European developer conference
As a conference for European developers, the Games Convention Developers Conference today announced it has lined up several speakers from the international developer community. This year's opening keynote address will be given by Julian Eggebrecht, Factor 5's president and lead director/producer. Peter Molyneux, who spoke at last year's conference, will return again this year to give a retrospective on games from his own Lionhead Studios. As of now, developers from more than 20 countries are slated to speak at the event. The GCDC immediately precedes the Leipzig Games Convention, taking place at the Leipziger Messe August 20-22.

Online game publisher finds $16 million in funding
K2 Network today announced it had secured $16 million in funding to develop, market, and grow its lineup of free-to-play online multiplayer games. Instead of a traditional subscription-based business model, K2 Network offers free-to-play online multiplayer games that are supported by microtransactions, or small, one-time payments for in-game goods. The publisher's current lineup of games includes War Rock, Sword of the New World, and Knight Online. Currently, the publisher boasts 10 million-plus users across its network in more than 100 countries. Leading the investors was Intel Capital, better known as the investment arm of semiconductor-maker Intel.