The reborn Austin Game Conference has seen a slew of recent news, including the keynote speaker and the first round of speaker announcements. This week, the former was announced via an official AGC press release and the latter list in a website post on the conference site.
Keynote
Mixed reality gets the nod from the “holy trinity” of augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality. Graeme Devine, chief game wizard at Magic Leap has been tapped for a keynote slot. The topic is the convergence of mixed reality, which is logical since Magic Leap is specializing in that space.
Devine is no stranger to the game development world. You don’t earn a title like “chief game wizard” if you’re new to the scene, after all. Straight from the press release: “A gaming industry veteran with a storied 30-year career innovating across multiple platforms, technologies and major titles, Devine is currently contributing to Magic Leap’s mixed reality computing platform. Among many verticals and industries, the platform will enable game developers to design and create unprecedented experiences that seamlessly integrate their digital and physical lives. Devine began his career at Atari at age 16 and has since helped bring numerous games to life, including “Pole Position,” “The 7th Guest,” “The 11th Hour,” “Quake III Arena,” “Doom 3” and, most recently, “Halo Wars.” At Apple Inc., Devine held a key position in iPhone Game Technologies, ensuring iOS devices provided users with unmatched gaming experiences.”
Austin Game Conference Executive Director Christopher Sherman adds, “Devine is a pioneer whose career is synonymous with the forefront of an ever-changing industry. He’s a constant innovator who continues to redefine the leading edge, and we’re very pleased to get a peek at how he’s taking game development to a whole new level.”
First Round of Speakers
In addition to the keynote, there’s a good number of speakers to announce for the Austin Game Conference, too, with a strong representation from the local games development market. Experienced game development folks from across the game industry are stepping up to the plate to speak, from companies like Facebook, Twitch, Art & Craft Entertainment, Skydance Interactive, Trion Worlds, Electronic Arts, Aspyr, Jagex, Bethesda Softworks, Big Huge Games, Gambitious Partners, IGDA, ATX Seed Ventures, ModSquad, MsMinotaur, Panic Button, Pixelmage Games, Portalarium, QC Games Inc., Unity Technologies, UT Austin, Vlambeer, WaveVR, Yanki.jp, 47 Communications, and more. The linkable list is shown in full below:
Kathy Astromoff, VP of Developer Success, Twitch
J. Allen Brack, Executive Producer and Senior Vice President, Blizzard Entertainment
Harlan T Beverly, PhD Assistant Director, Texas Venture Labs McCombs School of Business, UT Austin
Linda “Brasse” Carlson, Director of Community Relations, Trion Worlds
Adam Creighton, Studio GM & Director of Development, Panic Button
Patrick Curry, Director, Unity Austin, Unity Technologies
Dallas Dickinson, CEO, QC Games
Kate Edwards, Executive Director, International Game Developers Association
Shafeeqa Watkins Giarratani, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Scott Hartsman, CEO, Trion Worlds
Elizabeth Howard, Vice President of Publishing, Aspyr Media
Rami Ismail, Co-Founder, Vlambeer
Sean F. Kane, Co-Chair, Interactive Entertainment Group, Frankfurt Kurnit
Josh Kermond, Lead Producer, Big Huge Games
Raph Koster, Independent Designer and Consultant
Aaron Lemke, CCO / Co-Founder, WaveVR
Starr Long, Executive Producer, Portalarium
Chris Mancil, Director of Community & Influencers, Electronic Arts
Phil Mansell, Vice President, Jagex
Laralyn McWilliams, Chief Creative Officer, Skydance Interactive
Pete Moss, VRDude, Lead Engineer, Creative Content Studio, Unity Technologies
Leo Olebe, Director, Global Games Partnerships, Facebook
Juan Rubio, Freelance Unity Developer, Technical Director and CG Supervisor, Yanki.jp LLC
John Smedley, CEO, Pixelmage Games
Finn Staber, Programmer/Designer, Portalarium
Paul Stephanouk, Design Director, Boss Fight Entertainment
Chris Shonk, General Partner, ATX Seed Ventures
Sibel Sunar, CEO, fortyseven communications
Rich Vogel, Executive Producer/President BattleCry Studios a division of Bethesda Softworks
Adriel Wallick, Independent Game Developer, MsMinotaur
Gordon Walton, President Art & Craft Entertainment, Inc.
Rich Weil, Senior VP Global Operations, ModSquad
Mike Wilson, Founder/Partner and Patron Saint of Communication, Gambitious Partners
John Young, Director of Product Analysis and Monetization, Trion Worlds
The Austin Game Conference will cover the bases in its content tracks, such as Design, Business/Production/Live, Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality and Audience Participation (Streaming and eSports).
Registration for AGC is currently open, with early registration offered at $249 before July 29, 2016, and higher thereafter. Group and student discounts are available as well. The event is September 21-23, 2016, in Austin, Texas.
