High Road Communications

Thousands of game developers have invaded San Francisco this week for the annual Game Developers Conference, the biggest industry event of its kind.  (Let’s say there are worse assignments than to leave Montreal in a chilly -35?C to head to sunny California…) This year, the event has attracted over 12,000 attendees – a sharp increase from previous years. This can in part be explained by the cancellation of E3 as we knew it, many wanting to take this opportunity to network and conduct business. Interestingly, media attendance also seems to have increased for the same reason.

Gaming has really entered the mainstream world (one only has to look at the ever rising popularity of the Nintendi Wii – attracting gamers as much as people who have never picked up a controller before in their lives) and is now very much part of our entertainment environment, it’s fascinating to get to see the underside of this industry. E3 was very product-centric, (where everything was oversized) but this show is about the people, the technology and the skills.

Go check http://www.gamasutra.com, they are covering the show live with a great overview of what is happening. Jill Duffy reported on the conference given by Warren Spector (of Deus Ex’s fame) on storytelling. As always, this great visionary has given food for thought to his peers. Last time I had the pleasure to hear him speak was at the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS) in 2005, where he gave a much publicized keynote discussing violence in games. It created waves for weeks!

Big surprise factor for me was the Quebec presence. While Montreal is now known worldwide as a major development hub, it was still quite a shock to realize how strong the Quebec presence is at GDC: everywhere I walk, I pick up the easily identifiable Quebecois accent from groups of people I walk past. That’s not to mention the acquaintances I’ve been running into since the show started! From the MIGS team to Ubisoft Montreal employees, to High Road’s very own clients, the Quebec representation is quite remarkable. I had the pleasure of walking around the show with Electric Playground’s host Victor Lucas, showing him some of Montreal’s greatest technologies.

Of course, a tradeshow isn’t complete without an array of parties and events. Last night was the show’s Awards ceremony, where Xbox 360’s big hit Gears of War won the top honors. I selected to celebrate the evening with Montreal’s A.I. Implant who was throwing a little cocktail party and celebrating their latest customer adoption (a “small” studio called Bioware!).

Now back to the show for Day 2 – and hoping to enjoy some nice warm weather before heading back tomorrow to chilly Montreal…