Square Enix details GDC 2012 participation

IO Interactive To Showcase Hitman: Absolution Crowd Technology

Eidos-Montréal Contends for Leading Accolades at Annual Developer Gathering

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 29, 2012) – Square Enix, Inc., the publisher of SQUARE ENIX® interactive entertainment products in the Americas, today detailed the company’s planned presence at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), to be held in San Francisco March 5 – 9. Square Enix participation will include several new hands-on media demos for the company’s upcoming titles, participation in development panels, as well as major nominations for last year’s smash, DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION®, at the annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

Hit Square Enix games, including DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, Hitman: Absolution™ and SPACE INVADERS INFINITY GENE®, will be presented as part of insightful development panels during the Game Developers Conference. Details on each of these panels include:

Crowds in Hitman: Absolution

Speaker: Kasper Fauerby (IO Interactive)
Day / Time / Location: Wednesday 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Room 2006, West Hall, 2nd Floor
Description: A key requirement in Hitman: Absolution is to have very dense crowds which allow players to both interact with and influence the behavior of each individual character. This presentation describes the techniques and optimizations used to achieve the 1200+ character crowds present in Hitman: Absolution while still running at 30fps on current-gen consoles. We will provide an overview of our crowd implementation and discuss both the algorithms used as well as how gameplay considerations affected our design decisions. Throughout our presentation we’ll demonstrate the discussed topics using videos from a real production level in Hitman: Absolution.
Reimagining a Classic: The Design Challenges of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION

Speaker: Francois Lapikas (Eidos-Montréal/ Square Enix)
Day / Time / Location: Wednesday 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Room 134, North Hall
Description: This lecture will offer an intimate look at what it meant to bring back to life a beloved franchise, from a design standpoint. Through examples taken from DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION’s production, we’ll discuss the challenges we faced, the decisions we made, and why the game ultimately turned out the way it did. Macro decisions as well as low-level mechanics will be discussed.
Five Techniques for Making an Unforgettable Game, Illustrated in SPACE INVADERS INFINITY GENE and GROOVE COASTER™

Speaker: Reisuke Ishida (TAITO Corporation)
Day / Time / Location: Wednesday 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Room 132, North Hall
Description: In this session, Ishida Reisuke discusses several techniques used in the development of SPACE INVADERS INFINITY GENE and GROOVE COASTER, which can help designers create unforgettable games that stand out in an overcrowded market. While both games were developed for iOS, these techniques are applicable to any gaming platform.
Square Enix also is represented at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards (commencing Wednesday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the GDC Ballroom in South Hall). DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION gathered a Game of the Year nomination, while studio Eidos-Montréal was nominated for Best Debut.

Square Enix will host an off-site press event Wednesday and Thursday during GDC. Journalists will be able to try for themselves some of 2012’s most anticipated titles as well as chat with development and company representatives about the lineup, which includes the latest project from Kim Swift, Quantum Conundrum™; the recently announced open-world action game Sleeping Dogs™; the first downloadable content (DLC) for the recent hit FINAL FANTASY® XIII-2; the upcoming action-RPG HEROES OF RUIN™ for Nintendo 3DS™ system; and a chance to jump straight into the innovative, turn-based MMORPG WAKFU®, now available for PC, Mac and Linux.

Source: Square Enix PR