This year's Game Developer's Conference is now in full swing in San Francisco, with industry professionals from around the globe in attendance. Taking place at the city's Moscone Center from March 27-29, GDC offers ample opportunities for developers to learn from one another, with a special focus on the more technical and business-based aspects of what goes into delivering great videogame experiences.
Boasting a significant presence at this year's show, Crytek are inviting attendees to go hands-on with free-to-play FPS, Warface, as well as checking out how it integrates with the game-centric social hub, GFACE. A large portion of Crytek's presence is also focused on sharing how the company's CryENGINE® 3 technology can help other developers to turn their game ideas into a reality. Regular CryENGINE presentations on the show floor have been attracting significant interest from the GDC crowd so far, with one-to-one demos also leaving an impression on conference goers.
Sean Spitzer, Creative Director at Ghost Jack Entertainment, was impressed with what he saw of the engine in action. "Overall, I really loved it; especially if you're doing PC or console games. I loved the fact that things were simplified, and that animations, sounds, triggers, and events were all in the hands of one artist, so you can let your programmers just work on AI. It's very slick and streamlined, and I liked that a lot.”
Like CryENGINE 3, Warface has been quick to capture the interest of passers-by, with a steady stream of players taking their seats to try out the game's cooperative and competitive game modes via GFACE. Battle-hardened FPS player, Alexander Kahl, said Warface had made a positive impression. "It felt like a good shooter, and it had some really interesting aspects; like the fact you could just bring your weapon up and completely change it up, all in-game," said the game design student at Full Sail University in Florida. When asked what he thought of the fact that Warface was free-to-play, Alexander's enthusiasm doubled. "It's a free-to-play title? That's awesome! That did not seem like a free-to-play game at all."
With plenty more time for GDC 2013 still to run, Crytek will be looking to capture the attention and imagination of more attendees as they stop by and see how the company are broadening their horizons and working hard to offer up new experiences for players and developers alike.
