GDC '08 breaks attendance record, press may need invite next year

by Alexander Sliwinski { Feb 29th 2008 at 2:00AM }

As many who attended GDC recover from illness (thanks to days of rain and the plague-ridden in attendance), CMP Media says its 2008 conference broke a record and hosted 18,000 game industry professionals (previous attendance was somewhere around 16,000). Highlights included, well, we've covered all that already. GDC will be back at the Moscone Center in San Francisco again next year, blissfully later from March 23-27.

Attendance could also take a tiny dip next year as Kotaku reports GDC may become invite-only for those seeking press credentials. Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference, tells the site that CMP hasn't nailed down details on how it's going to work, but they are looking at an "invite model for press access." Moledina is worried about maintaining the show's atmosphere and wants to make sure GDC maintains its core goals.

Read: 2008 GDC breaks attendance record
Read: GDC, DICE, E3 could all be press invite only

Tags: attendance, cmp, gdc08, moledina

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Firtch @ Feb 29th 2008 2:44AM

They need handwashing training there, too. That should keep out the plague-ridden. I saw so many retards leave the bathroom without washing. I'm probably bitter 'cause of this damn runny nose I still have.

fester @ Feb 29th 2008 2:48AM

gawd, they're all leaning over-it's the MALL ZOMBIES!!

klitorisaurus @ Feb 29th 2008 3:29AM

I finally moved to SoCal just in time to not be allowed into E3. Now another convention is getting harder to get in to, not that GDC was for the public anyway.

Here's a novel idea.. how about a great video game convention that all gamers can go to? We pay your salaries for fuck sake.

And don't give me that "it got to crowded", "lost it's focus" BS. Every major auto show is open to the public. CES, SEMA, even Adult Entertainment Industry Conventions are all open to the public. The E3 before the switch had only hit 70k attendees, compare that with CES's 150k and Detroit Auto's 700k+. Overcrowding is no excuse. While I understand the need for industry only gatherings there is still a very large need for a awesome public display of all that is wonderful about video games. E3 should be that display, and GDC should be industry only.

But that's unlikely so I guess all I can do is hope that E for ALL will someday be taken seriously by the video game industry.

VerticalEvent @ Feb 29th 2008 6:15AM

They do have a convention like that - it's called PAX.

Ryan Henson Creighton @ Feb 29th 2008 9:07AM

And E for All. Quit yer bitching.

http://www.eforallexpo.com/

McWeen @ Feb 29th 2008 8:29AM

I worked on a student game with the guy near the front staring straight at the camera. Didn't expect to get up this morning and see a picture of him on joystiq.

Organic_Shadow @ Feb 29th 2008 9:56AM

Awww, our "little" games industry is outgrowing it's ninja turtle t-shirts, and now we have to go buy him new ones. Which are the kind with the little alligator on the left side of the shirt?

klitorisaurus @ Feb 29th 2008 1:26PM

Lacoste :)

seishino @ Feb 29th 2008 1:56PM

As a game developer I have to stay:

Please stay away from GDC. It's a chance for us to go backstage, let our hair down, and chat shop with an honesty that you just couldn't do if there was a liveblogger overhearing every conversation. It's mostly boring stuff about collision tree optimizations, efficient advertising allocations, and venting about projects that went down the tubes. It is nice to a few fresh faces at the table, but it is not the place to go for info on the new Halo.

If you want an auto-show, PAX is great. But please leave GDC as a chance for us developers to schmooze, complain, and learn without having to censor ourselves.

Shagittarius @ Feb 29th 2008 4:26PM

"Moledina is worried about maintaining the show's atmosphere and wants to make sure GDC maintains its core goals."

Ah yes the shows goal of blowing smoke up each others asses and job chasing. A noble goal. I remember the first GDC where they debated whether higher resolution or more color was more important for making better looking graphics...They decided by zipping different files of various color depths and resolutions and decided that higher resolution was more important beacuse it took up more space when compressed therefore it most contain more visual information.

Truely amazing stuff...truely.