News

'Tales from the GDC Vault' debuts lost Halo, MMO design talks
'Tales from the GDC Vault' debuts lost Halo, MMO design talks
The GDC Vault has debuted three free lecture videos from roughly a decade ago, featuring a look at Halo: Combat Evolved, Raph Koster and Rich Vogel on classic MMO design, and SGI on graphics trends.
Oct. 15, 2012
When does effective free-to-play design become an ethical matter?
When does effective free-to-play design become an ethical matter?
"Our industry bears the characteristics of a gold rush, and in any gold rush, you have honest prospectors and you have claim jumpers." - Amazon.com game dev Nik Davidson on ethics of modern game design.
Oct. 12, 2012
CastleVille: A GDC Online postmortem
CastleVille: A GDC Online postmortem
CastleVille's designers Bruce Shelley and William Lemons explain how their success stemmed from their strong focus on core game loop design -- and how their biggest mistake was over-iterating.
Oct. 12, 2012
CCP Online's three design pillars for sandbox MMOs
CCP Online's three design pillars for sandbox MMOs
At GDC Online, CCP senior game designer Matt Woodward explains how CCP's unique approach to player socializing, goal-driven game design, and emergent gameplay sustain its MMO sandbox EVE Online.
Oct. 11, 2012
Ultima Online creators remember the good and bad of its early days
Ultima Online creators remember the good and bad of its early days
To close out the final GDC Online in Austin, Ultima Online creators Rich Vogel, Raph Koster and Starr Long recall the early days of forming what was then a brand new idea: A persistent, online world.
Oct. 11, 2012
This is the future of free-to-play
This is the future of free-to-play
The free-to-play business model has seen its share of success, but what will the next generation of free-to-play bring? Gamasutra talks to some of the top players in the space.
Oct. 11, 2012
Emergent gameplay, F2P key for MMO user retention problems
Emergent gameplay, F2P key for MMO user retention problems
During a GDC Online session titled "Free-to-play: Driving the Future of MMOs," SOE president John Smedley told attendees they'd have to enlist their players to help build (and market) their games.
Oct. 10, 2012
Wing Commander creator returns to game dev with new space sim
Wing Commander creator returns to game dev with new space sim
Industry pioneer Chris Roberts, who created the seminal Wing Commander and Privateer franchises, has returned to game development after a more than decade-long absence to release a new space sim.
Oct. 10, 2012
Social players don't want to read your text -- or do they?
Social players don't want to read your text -- or do they?
Traditional wisdom says that social game players might not want to read in-game text, but according to the narrative heads behind Zynga's Indiana Jones Adventure World, that might not be the case.
Oct. 10, 2012
10 Social Game Lessons from 2012
10 Social Game Lessons from 2012
Steve Meretzky (Playdom Game Design VP) and Dave Rohrl (VP of Game Production at Goko) presented ten lessons they've learned in their "2012: Social Games Year in Review" GDC Online session.
Oct. 9, 2012
Building better communities: The next challenge for free-to-play
Building better communities: The next challenge for free-to-play
"Wall Street is trading in picoseconds, and we still have 16-player games. This is really small. This is not even modern online technology at all. It's basically 10 years behind," says Gabe Leydon with Machine Zone.
Oct. 9, 2012
Making everyone feel like a star in a multiplayer game
Making everyone feel like a star in a multiplayer game
Interactive fiction author Emily Short shares some of the lessons learned while developing an 8-player interactive story, the most important of which is keeping each player feeling like the star of their own adventure.
Oct. 9, 2012