GCDC Day 2

We're about halfway through the second day of the Games Convention Developers Conference here in Leipzig. We're keeping busy attending panels and keynotes but, like the Game Developer Conferences of old, the event is very much geared toward the development community rather than at us. Our event kicks of tomorrow, when the Games Convention doors open and, for one day only, we get access to a public-free showfloor.

The biggest thing to happen at GCDC so far from my point of view was being invited to moderate a panel. I've never done anything quite like it before, but after a late night spent coming up with questions while also doing my bit to keep our hotel's mosquito population down, I felt pretty good going into the session. The panel's title was "Best-Selling Games", the brief for it was as follows:

Almost anyone can build a game, and many companies are founded on this premise, but few can consistently reach the best-seller level again and again. This panel of "Game Gods" brings together some of the most accomplished game designers to talk about what they feel are the key elements of best-selling games.

Speakers on the panel included Don L. Daglow (Stormfront Studios), Julian Eggebrecht (Factor 5), Michael Capps (Epic), and--filling in for the absent Peter Molyneux--George Backer (Lionhead). Among other things we talked about the challenges of making a best-selling game, the pros and cons of working with licenses, the value of feedback from previews and forum users, and the relationship between critical acclaim and sales.

I daresay we'll be uploading video from the panel at some point, but for now here's a photo snapped by GSUK's Emma Boyes from her vantage point in the front row.