MODSQUAD AND GDC INVADE SAN FRANCISCO

It’s that time of year again, when the top dogs and cool cats of the game industry descend upon the city by the bay. This year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) runs from March 14 through 18 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, and ModSquad will be in the house! We spoke with SVP of Global Operations Rich Weil about the annual summit for everyone who’s anyone in the game biz.

“GDC is a fantastic show in a great city,” enthuses Rich. “It provides a unique opportunity to see the top pros in the business and hear what these veterans have to say. It’s consistently the show for networking and catching up and learning new things about the industry.”

In addition to participating in the “Reddit vs. Forums” panel on the community management track, Rich is looking forward to bringing a few colleagues to the madness that is GDC. “We’re very happy this year to have a record number of ModSquad folks attending the show, including some long-time game industry veterans like Lucien Parsons. It’s awesome that our presence at GDC and similar industry shows continues to increase. We’re growing along with the game industry!”

Former ModSquadder Guido Schenkel (now Head of Player Experience at Wooga) will also be on hand at GDC, and will be joining Rich in a panel discussion at a related conference. “GDC gets more diverse all the time, branching out into ever more areas of the gaming industry with a multitude of VR events and an entire summit dedicated to Free-2-Play, which is of special interest to me,“ says Guido. “This year, my personal highlight will be representing Wooga on a panel at the 2016 MORE Summit, where I will discuss the ins and outs of outsourcing with Rich Weil and colleagues from Zynga and Crowdstar.”

While Rich notes that GDC “gets bigger and better every year,” there’s one old standby that he’s particularly looking forward to. Is it the free swag? The food and drinks? Nope! “They set up an arcade of classic old video game,” reveals Rich. “It’s always my fave!” You go blast those asteroids, Rich. We won’t tell a soul.

If you’re milling around Moscone next week, keep an eye out for our crew. You might just see Rich, Lucien Parsons, Izzy Neis, and Matt Hostler. Make sure to say hi!