will be on the minds of thousands of people at this week's Game
Developers Conference in San Francisco, a key event for video game
insiders looking to learn new skills, showcase innovations and if
they're lucky enough, find work.
Bolstered by an ever-expanding audience that is turning to games for
cheaper entertainment, video games are benefiting in some ways from
the economic turmoil. Yet the industry is not completely immune, with
layoffs and closings of studios that produce games. Electronic Arts
Inc., the game publisher behind the "Madden" football series, is
cutting 1,000 jobs, most by the end of this month.
Meggan Scavio, the Game Developers Conference's event director,
expects attendance to be slightly down this year from last year's
18,000 people. When game studios cut back, she noted, travel and
training budgets are among the first to go. She also expects fewer,
more informal parties.
"It's kind of like let's celebrate, but do it quietly," she said.
Even amid the recession's pall, this is a fertile time for video
games. Blockbuster games with intricate story lines and movie-quality
graphics have become popular entertainment for millions. Technological
advancements like digital distribution are making it easier for new
developers to get their games into players' hands. People are playing
games on more platforms than ever — on their mobile phones and
handheld systems, on social networks like Facebook and on consoles not
just in their living rooms but in bars and retirement homes.
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