The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, then in its 25th year, drew more than 25,000 game developers and vendors from all corners of the globe. Laced founders Danny Kelleher and Anthony Matchett were there representing Cutting Edge Group and the music industry.
The big theme was virtual reality. Valve, best known for its Steam platform, unveiled its Vive headset made in partnership with HTC, along with prototype VR controllers and Steam Link for in-home streaming. Sony's VR project, Morpheus, pushed forward with a release date and new technical specifications.
Oculus, arguably VR's biggest player, showed a spectacular demo of its newest prototype, complete with 360-degree spatial audio, featuring content from Epic Games, Nvidia and Crytek. Seeing really is believing: upgrades to resolution, tracking and audio made for a far more immersive experience than before. The expo floor hosted VR interaction and control solutions from omni-directional treadmills to haptic body suits.
Beyond VR, Epic Games made Unreal Engine 4 free for anyone to use, with a 5% revenue share on sales above a threshold. We believe more technology providers should adopt that model: with fewer barriers in place, innovation is sure to increase. Unity also released Unity 5, with features that will prove popular with mobile developers.
It was a great year for the UK industry, with more than 35 companies on the UKIE stand. GDC continues to go from strength to strength as the destination event for games developers, and we look forward to a stream of new content and games that take advantage of these developments – and to the role music and sound will play in making them immersive.