The upcoming Game Developers Conference is only a few weeks away and will bring together the games industry for a weekend of development, idea sharing, and more, and those attending can now get a glimpse of what PlayStation will have on hand for developers.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony detailed what it will have on-hand for GDC 2018 (at Space 601 on the GDC Expo Floor in South Hall), which will include a variety of tech and game demos for attendees to explore. The following titles will be available to demo during the event:
- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
- Monster Hunter: World
- Gran Turismo Sport
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Donut County
- The Swords of Ditto
- Guacamelee! 2
- Moss
- Bravo Team
In addition to the demos, many of the Third Party Developer Relations team will be on-hand at the event to speak with developers and studios about licensing and other questions regarding business. Developers can also register to self-publish on PlayStation platforms, or speak to staff at the booth about potential career opportunities and more.
Several talks and panels will also be at the event surrounding PlayStation (including a few sponsored sessions), with descriptions for a few below:
The Magic Behind ‘Joshua Bell VR’: Immersive Video with Positional Tracking
Speaker: Ian Bickerstaff (Director of Immersive Video Technology, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe)
Location: Room 24, North Hall
Date: Monday, March 19
Time: 1:20pm – 1:50pm
Pass Type: All Access, VRDC@GDC Add On
Topic: Entertainment VR/AR
Format: Session
Synopsis: Many VR videos offer the ability to look around in all directions, but are unable to respond to the subtle changes in the viewer’s position; they only present the view from one single point in space. This presentation tells the story of how the ‘Joshua Bell VR Experience’ was adapted to overcome this limitation for PlayStation VR, creating the illusion of full volumetric video without the complexity normally associated with the technique. It then shows how this technology can now be used to enhance a wide range of other VR content.Player Engagement in VR Cinematics
Speaker: Gabor Soos (Cinematic Animation Lead, Sony London Studio)
Location: Room 3005, West Hall
Date: Thursday, March 22
Time: 3:00pm – 3:30pm
Pass Type: All Access, GDC Conference + Summits, GDC Conference
Topic: Visual Arts
Format: Session
Synopsis: Cinematic cut-scenes in traditional games can feel disruptive at times, pulling players out of the experience. In the medium of VR, disrupting player engagement can lead to a total break of immersion. On the other hand, distract the audience too much from the narrative and they’ll miss the point of the scene. In this session, Gabor Soos will lead you through PlayStation VR’s production examples on how Sony London Studio attempted to strike a balance between player engagement and cinematic cut-scenes.Sponsored Sessions
Production Pipelines for HDR and Wide Color Assets
Date: Thursday 22nd March
Time: 10:00am- 11:00am
Location: Room 3009, West HallFraud in Gaming – Disrupting the Bad in the Good
Date: Wednesday 21st March
Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm
Location: Room 3009, West HallPlayStation Visual Arts Service Group: YES! We Did That!
Date: Thursday 22nd March
Time: 2:00pm 2:30pm
Location: Career Theater, North HallFinal Final Version 02: Adventures in Creative Collaboration (Presented by Sony Interactive Entertainment America)
Date: Friday, March 23rd
Time: 11:30am – 12:00pm
Location: Career Theater, North Hall
GDC 2018 will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA from March 19 – 23, 2018 – you can click here for a closer look at the full list of PlayStation-related talks during the conference, or head here for the sponsored sessions during the weekend.