GDC, DICE May Become Invite-only Next Year

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Organizers of the Game Developers Conference and DICE may be moving to an invite-only system for members of the press next year, Kotaku reported today.

GDC director Jamil Moledina expressed concerns of maintaining the show's atmosphere and scope in the face of an ever-rising attendance rates and an increased press presence.

"We don't have it nailed down, but we are looking at moving to an invite model for press access at GDC," Moledina said. "It's meant to be a networking event for people who make games, but more and more we are seeing a lot of individuals who are obtaining press credentials who aren't full-time press. It's kind of open to being spoofed."

Increased press presence is also leading DICE organizers to head in a similar direction. "The academy's role, first and foremost, is to make sure the academy members are comfortable and that the role of the media is to be there to watch and not participate," said Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences president Joseph Olin.

The movement towards invite-only events mirrors the Entertainment Software Association's decision last year to retool the E3 Media and Business Summit, which now requires attendees to be invited directly by publishers and developers. In the absence of larger-scale events, many developers are moving towards smaller, invite-only press gatherings to announce and demonstrate upcoming titles.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 27, 2008 1:22 PM

    This is fantastic. I was railing against this for the last week about how there are so many journalists who treat GDC like E3 and it's nice to see that they aren't embracing that mentality.

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      February 27, 2008 1:25 PM

      I agree. It's mostly illogical for the press to be there, it will also hopefully deter publishers from making silly marketing announcements at GDC.

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        February 27, 2008 1:27 PM

        There's place for press, especially the more development-geared press, but the fact that so many so much of the gaming press was there this year is just ridiculous.

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          February 27, 2008 1:32 PM

          It's an event that's easy to access (considering how many game sites are in San Francisco, including GS, IGN, and 1UP), easy to get passes for, and typically comes during a fairly slow period for gaming news. Becoming invite-only is fine, though.

          In the future, they should just tape the more interesting sessions and put them on the GDC site. I have to imagine that there's pretty broad interest behind seeing Will Wright speak, or hearing about the development of Portal, which is why the press comes out in droves. If the talks were available for everyone to see maybe that would cut down a bit on the press attendance.

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      February 27, 2008 1:28 PM

      [deleted]

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      February 27, 2008 1:51 PM

      I hear it's also pretty full of students looking for a job running around pitching their home made 3D engines to developers. confirm/deny? :)

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        February 27, 2008 3:20 PM

        haha, something like that. Students looking for jobs is a big portion of GDC. The problem is that some students seem to thing "networking" is rushing any and all developers with a AAA title and practically dry humping them to the floor while simultaneously spewing business cards into the air.

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