Different platforms – one goal
Bill Roper is coming to the GC Developer Conference (GCDC) in Leipzig
The American Bill Roper, one of the best-known developers of computer games worldwide, will be taking part in the GC Developer Conference (GCDC) in Leipzig from 16 to 18 August. "Familiarising myself with the interests and challenges of the various cultural groups of developers not only enables me to gain an insight into the industry as a whole, it also permits us to exchange information about our concepts", is Roper's view of the significance of the GCDC as an international meeting point for the fields of development, publishing, media and science.
Prior to founding his own company, Flagship Studios, in 2003, Roper worked for Blizzard on the titles of the 'Diablo', 'WarCraft' and 'StarCraft' series. Today, Flagship employs a staff of over 30 and is planning to release the first PC title, 'Hellgate: London', in the coming year. His team has been working together for two years now, redefining the genre of action role-plays. "For Hellgate: London we wanted to introduce random elements as central components of the game design, something we had never tried to do before", explains Roper.
The GCDC is the first developer conference that Roper will have visited in Europe. His anticipation is keen as a result: "It is the exchange of topics, ideas and problem solutions that makes participation at this year's GCDC so special."
Roper will open the GCDC with a keynote speech on the subject "PC, consoles and mobile gaming: can these exist with one another?". In an interview conducted by the Leipziger Messe with Bill Roper he declares that "at some point there will be just one platform, combining console, PC, home entertainment and probably an espresso machine all in one unit". Until that point, however, he sees "market equality and enthusiastic players" for the console and PC platforms. (The complete interview with Bill Roper can be viewed on the GCDC website.)
At the GCDC 2005 Roper will encounter a well-known field of speakers, such as Bruce Shelley (Ensemble Studios), Don Daglow (Stormfront Studios), Bob Bates (board member at IGDA), Julian Eggebrecht (Factor 5), David Freemann (Beyond Structure), Rajesh T. Reddy (July Systems), Ralf Adam (Tiger Team), David Leigh (Intel Corp.), Guido Henkel (G3 Software) and Matt Frior (Mythic Entertainment).
Further information, together with a registration form and press accreditation opportunities are available at: www.gcdc-germany.com.
Press contact:
Jonathan Rahn
Mobil: +49 (0) 176 23 56 96 05
E-Mail: jonathan@readmore.de
Susanne Heusler
Telephone: +49 (0) 341 678 8184
Fax: +49 (0) 341 678 8182
E-Mail: s.heusler@leipziger-messe.de
Exhibitor, visitor, speaker contact:
Frank Sliwka, Project Manager
Telephone: +49 (0) 341 678 8288
Fax: +49 (0) 341 678 8282
E-Mail: f.sliwka@leipziger-messe.de
GCDC on the internet: http://www.gcdc-germany.com
GC on the internet: http://www.gc-germany.de
4 August 2005