Game Developers Conference Cements Role as World's Largest Game Industry-Only Event

GDC Doubles Show Floor and Provides More Opportunities for Publishers and Key Industry Players

SAN FRANCISCO - Sept. 18, 2006 - The CMP Game Group, organizers of the Game Developers

Conference (GDC), announced today that they are more than doubling their show

floor to accommodate the game industry market need for a single, one-stop shop

event. The Game Developers Conference will take place March 5-9, 2007 at the

Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

With E3 moving to a 5,000 person media-centric event, GDC has been elevated to

the world's largest trade event dedicated to the game industry, with attendees

numbering more than 12,500 including more than 1,000 members of the working press.

2007 will be the first year of GDC's long-term relocation to San Francisco,

after its high growth trajectory necessitated the move to accommodate the expanding

attendee base. When GDC was last in San Francisco in 2005, the show occupied

the three floors of Moscone West. For GDC 07, the organizers reserved both Moscone

West and Moscone North. With the Moscone West show floor virtually sold out,

the organizers have now additionally secured the keynote hall in Moscone South

in order to convert Moscone North into a second dedicated show floor. This will

allow the GDC to accommodate the voluminous requests coming in for exhibition

space and to include fresh exhibitor opportunities, such as the all-new Game

Demo Theater.

"As GDC enters its 20th year, it emerges as the event with the largest gravitational

pull of any other game industry-only event," said Jamil Moledina, executive director

of the GDC. "While it remains our primary goal to serve the game development

community and ensure that the session-based half of GDC remains unchanged, we

also believe it is time to dramatically upgrade the range of expo opportunities.

The result of our expansion is that GDC becomes the natural choice for all companies

in the game industry ecosystem to exhibit and conduct business."

The traditional business of GDC has centered on the creation of development deals

for publishing games, an environment fostered through a mix of industry-defining

conference sessions, a broad constellation of targeted networking receptions

and the Game Connection matchmaking system. In recent years, however, the event

has grown far beyond its developer core, with a show floor, networking and visibility

options that enable companies to build buzz for their products, connect with

the right buyers, build international exposure and form strategic partnerships.

The new show floor is built around a core of existing GDC expo suites and a networking

lounge, surrounded by publishers, developers, outsourcers, middleware providers,

peripheral companies, component companies, mobile game companies, casual game

companies, serious game companies, online game companies, licensed IP holders,

and international consortia. These groups complement the existing GDC exhibitors

of platform companies, tool providers, and technology providers. Vendors on the

new floor have a choice between booth space, expo suites and meeting rooms, while

publishers and developers have the chance to demonstrate upcoming games in the

brand new Game Demo Theater.

"The GDC is always working on answering developers' needs and requests. Once

again, we have proof of that," remarked Julien Merceron, Worldwide CTO of Eidos

Interactive. "Most challenges for developing next-gen games come from building

extremely efficient pipelines using cutting-edge programming techniques on more

complex architectures. More expo space will allow the GDC to cover more diverse

technologies, accommodate larger booths - which facilitate better evaluation

conditions - and provide progressive companies that are working on the fringe

of our industry with a showcase for their products."

"With these changes, we're getting to see even more of the latest technologies,

the ones that will fuel the next generation of video games, without standing

in line and without deafening music - that's what makes the GDC Expo floor special,"

noted David Perry, CEO, GameConsultants.com

GDC has historically provided, and will continue to provide, dedicated networking

and reception events for developers, publishers, serious game companies, mobile

companies, and East-West collaboration. GDC is adding a casual/independent reception,

as well as a dedicated Independent Games Conference to augment the Independent

Games Festival (IGF), the oldest and most prestigious game innovation laboratory,

that also takes place at GDC. Both the IGF and the Game Developers Choice Awards,

the most widely respected peer-based game industry awards event, provide new

visibility opportunities for companies not endemic to the game industry.

For more information about the Game Developers Conference, please visit www.gdconf.com.