As GDC, the world’s largest sport developer convention, returns to San Francisco, Microsoft and Xbox shall be there to interact and empower builders, publishers, and expertise companions throughout the trade. We are dedicated to supporting sport builders on any platform, anyplace on the planet, at each stage of growth. Our message is straightforward: Microsoft and Xbox are right here to assist energy your video games and empower your groups.
From March 18 – 22, the Xbox Lobby Lounge within the Moscone Center South can’t be missed – a simple assembly level, and a primary step towards studying extra concerning the ID@Xbox publishing program, the Developer Acceleration Program (DAP) for underrepresented creators, Azure cloud gaming providers, and anything builders may want.
GDC options dozens of audio system from throughout Xbox, Activision, Blizzard, King and Zenimax who will exhibit groundbreaking in-game improvements and share community-building methods. Microsoft expertise groups, with help from companions, may also host talks that highlight new instruments, software program and providers that assist enhance developer velocity, develop participant engagement and assist creators develop. See under for the Conference programming particulars.
Xbox can also be sponsoring the Independent Games Festival (IGF) and our Xbox Gaming for Everyone worker communities are coming collectively to host a networking occasion for underrepresented builders and their allies. We hope you may be a part of us on the G4E occasion on Thursday March twenty first from 11am to 4pm at Minna Gallery (111 Minna St. in San Francisco), situated minutes from the Moscone heart. To study extra and to register for the occasion, please learn our full GDC 2024 Gaming for Everyone Community Networking Lounge & Scholarship Program announcement.
Monday, March 18
Skyscraper Zombies: Advancing ‘Call of Duty’s’ Systems for Giant AI
Speaker: Andrew Hoyt (Gameplay Engineer, Treyarch)
Date: Monday, March 18
Time: 3:50 pm – 4:20 pm
Tuesday, March 19
H2O in H3LL: The Various Forms of Water in Diablo IV
Speaker: Aaron Aikman (Lead Technical Artist, Graphics, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Tuesday, March 19
Time: 10:50 am – 11:50 am
The Synergy of Architecture and Structural Engineering in Game Art and Design
Speaker: Joshua Haun (Expert Environment Artist, Activision)
Date: Tuesday, March 19
Time: 10:50 am – 11:50 am
Harvesting 10 Years Of Success: How Farm Heroes Saga Has Super-Served It’s Players For A Decade
Speaker: Sabrina Carmona (VP Head of Farm Heroes Saga, King)
Date: Tuesday, March 19
Time: 2:40 pm – 3:40 pm
Audio Summit: How do you make informal video games gamers flip their audio on?
Speaker: Dominique Devoucoux (Head of Audio, King)
Date: Tuesday, March 19
Time: 4:40 pm – 5:10 pm
Wednesday, March 20
Developing Hi-Fi RUSH “Backwards” and Finding Our Positive Gameplay Loop
Speaker: John Johanas (Game Director, Tango Gameworks)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
The First 30 Years of ‘Warcraft’: The Making of a Game Universe
Speaker: John Hight (Franchise General Manager, Warcraft Franchise, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
The Pillars of Hell: Achieving the Artistic Vision of Diablo IV
Speaker: John Mueller (Art Director, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Sugary Statistics: What we now have discovered about Candy Crush content material after 10 years and over 15,000 ranges
Speakers: Jan Wedekind (Head of Central Insights, King) and Xavier Guardiola (Data Science Director, King)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Xbox’s Product Inclusion Framework & Inclusive Growth Doorways
Speaker: Katy Jo Wright (Senior Director, Gaming for Everyone, Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Automated Testing of Shader Code
Speaker: Keith Stockdale (Senior Software Engineer, Rare Ltd)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Diablo IV – Audio Systems Deep Dive “Living Audio”
Speakers: Kris Giampa (Audio Director, Blizzard Entertainment) and Michael Bartnett (Software Engineer, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Optimizing Game Development Workflows with Visual Studio and AI
Speakers: David Li (Game Developer Product Manager, Microsoft) and Greg Denton (Principal Product Manager, Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
All issues Azure & OpenAI for Game Development
Speakers: Jon Kefaloukos (Strategic Account Director Gaming at Azure , Microsoft) and Uthappa Kattera Chengappa (Lead Cloud Solution Architect Gaming at Azure , Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
10 Years in Tamriel: Success of The Elder Scrolls
Speaker: Matt Firor (Studio Director / President, ZeniMax Online Studios)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
3D Toon Rendering in Hi-Fi RUSH
Speakers: Kosuke Tanaka (Lead Graphics Programmer, Tango Gameworks) and Takashi Komada (Graphics/Physics Programmer, Tango Gameworks)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
The View From Above: Designing Compelling Quests for ‘Diablo IV’
Speaker: Harrison Pink (Senior Quest Designer II, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Thursday, March 21
‘Diablo IV’: The Art of Open World Sanctuary
Speakers: Mahreen Fatima (Senior Environment Artist, Blizzard Entertainment), Sam Gao (Environment Artist, Blizzard Entertainment), and Justin Whitehead (Associate Material Artist, Environments, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Levelling Up: How AI’s Transformative Role in Level Automation Production Adds Business Value in ‘Candy Crush Saga’
Speaker: Anna Hernandelius (Product Director Content, King) and Sahar Asadi (Director of AI Labs, King)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 10:00 am – 11:00 am
Keeping Online Communities Healthy
Speakers: Jennifer Mills-Perov (Principal Product Manager Gaming Trust and Safety, Microsoft) and Ivory Harvey (Senior Technical Program Manager Gaming Trust and Safety, Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
DirectX State of the Union Featuring Work Graphs and Introducing DirectSR
Speakers: Shawn Hargreaves (Dev Manager, Direct3D, Microsoft), Austin Kinross (PIX Developer Lead, Microsoft), Wessam Bahnassi (Principal Engineer, Developer Technology, Nvidia), and Rob Martin (Fellow Software Engineer, AMD)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 12:45 am – 1:45 pm
Minecraft Players on the Center of the Universe of Big Data
Speaker: Francisco Rius (Head of Data at Mojang Studios)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm
MergeBot: Activision’s Merge and Resolve Infrastructure
Speaker: Damianos Gkouzkouris (Senior Tools Engineer, Activision)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
How PlayFab Helped Texas Chainsaw Massacre Succeed
Speakers: CJ Williams (Director of Product Management Microsoft Game Creator Services, Microsoft) and Rob Fox (Designer and Producer Gun Interactive, Gun Interactive)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Operation Innovation: How Xbox Employs Military Talents in Gaming
Speakers: Fiona Cherbak (Lead Talent Program Manager, Xbox Game Studios), iAsia Brown (Senior Producer, Xbox Game Studios Publishing), Lisa Elswick (Vice President, USO Transition Programs , USO), Jenn Panattoni (Head of Xbox Social Impact, Xbox/Microsoft), and Jason Coon (Director of Xbox Safety Operations, Xbox/Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Friday, March 22
Game Career Seminar: Who Are You? Building Your Profile Outside the Job
Speaker: Ashley Poprik (Writer, High Moon Studios)
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 10:10 am – 10:40 am
Shipping Diablo IV
Speakers: Michael Bybee (Production Director, Blizzard Entertainment) and Tiffany Wat (Production Director, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Building the ‘Minecraft’ Creator Platform Block-by-Block
Speaker: Kayla Kinnunen (Executive Producer, Mojang Studios)
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Embracing Art Performance on ‘Diablo IV’
Speaker: Evan Edwards (Senior Technical Artist I, Graphics, Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Visual Effects Roundtable Day 3
Speaker: Gabriel Boileau (VFX Artist, Activision Blizzard)
Date: Friday, March 22
Time: 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm