GDC Europe adds Game of Thrones art, Ernest Adams, Bigpoint talks

In the latest update for GDC Europe 2012, show organizers have revealed three new sessions, which cover the ways in which Game of Thrones can inspire concept artists, how developers can visualize and create new game mechanics, and how studios should react to the saturation of the free to play market. These talks all fall within GDC Europe's Main Conference, which takes place Monday through Wednesday, August 13-15, 2012 at the Congress-Centrum Ost Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. The full details on these new sessions are as follows: - As part of the Visual Arts track, concept artist Tobias Mannewitz (who's worked on games including Anno 1404, Gothic 4, and Killzone 3) will demonstrate what game artists can learn from television in "Concept Art Learnings From Game Of Thrones To... Games!" In addition to working in the game industry, Mannewitz has also contributed concept art to Season 2 of the hit HBO television series Game of Thrones (pictured), and in this session, he will discuss how artists can learn from the show and use several filmmaking techniques to improve their pipelines and artistic output. - Over in the Game Design track, veteran game designer and teacher Ernest Adams and gameplay engineer Joris Dormans (who holds a PhD in game design) will introduce a new and invaluable tool for creating gameplay mechanics in "Machinations: A New Way to Design Game Mechanics." During this session, the pair will showcase how the free Machinations software will help developers visualize and diagram their ideas for new gameplay systems. Attendees will also get a chance to try the software for themselves, giving them hands-on experience in using the new game design tool. - Finally, Bigpoint founder Heiko Hubertz will present the Business & Marketing track lecture, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us - Trend Compendium for the F2P Online Games Industry," offering an in-depth look at the maturation and saturation of the free to play market. Over the past few years, the free to play space has only grown more competitive -- companies are beginning to fight over larger and larger segments of the market, and users are beginning to expect more from the games that use the free to play model. In this session, Hubertz will outline these key trends, and will offer his advice on what developers need to do to survive as the market evolves. These talks join a number of other previously-announced sessions, including a new classic postmortem on the N64 classic GoldenEye 007, a keynote from Epic Games on Infinity Blade and mobile graphics, and a talk from Google on the evolving economics of the game business. For a full list of all GDC Europe sessions announced thus far, check out the show's newly launched Schedule Builder. Keep an eye out for even more exciting keynotes and sessions, and GDC Europe organizers have plenty more in store before the event opens its doors this August. Those interested in attending GDC Europe can secure their pass for the Gamescom co-located event now, as early registration is now open until July 18th. For more information on GDC Europe, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. GDC Europe is owned and operated by Gamasutra parent company UBM Technology.