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It’s a Whole New MMO World", John Smedley will discuss how the critically-acclaimed freely available tween and teen title Free Realms, originally announced during GDC Austin 2007, has worked to expand the base of players engaging together in online worlds. Presented by Think Services, GDC Austin returns with three days of main conference content focused on connected games, online games, virtual worlds, and social networking game play and four two-day summits including the Game Writers, Game Audio, iPhone Games and Independent Games Summits. The event takes place at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas September 15-18, 2009. Early registration discounts for the event will end on August 13.
Using empirical research and hard-won insight, John Smedley’s keynote will inform attendees about the challenges and lessons learned when creating a full-blown MMO for younger audiences. The keynote will speak to the challenges and boundless opportunity of connected games and will also describe how to re-educate development teams to move away from stagnant MMO designs towards mass market success.
"There’s no better speaker than John Smedley to discuss redefining MMO gameplay and the expanding MMO audience," says Izora de Lillard, event director at Think Services Game Group. "The success of the Free Realms is a testament to the evolving nature of the connected gaming space and the growing player base that is drawn to this new iteration of the MMO. It isn’t just teens or parents playing games, it is teens and parents now playing together."
As President of Sony Online Entertainment, John Smedley oversees the company’s overall vision and growth. He has more than a decade of experience in the interactive entertainment industry, including positions with ATG, Knight Technologies and five years with SOE as Director of Development. While at SOE, Smedley was instrumental in the creation and development of the original, groundbreaking EverQuest. Under Smedley’s leadership, SOE has grown from a small developer with a single online PC game to an industry leader which has had millions of subscribers and multiple titles published on PC, PlayStation, PSP, wireless and handheld platforms.
Learn more about the complete listing of speakers and sessions for GDC
Austin 2009 at www.GDCAustin.com. [August 7, 2009]
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