Legendary Game Developer Richard Garriott to Keynote the 2011 LOGIN Conference

Creator of Ultima and private astronaut will pontificate on the “Third Grand Era of Games”

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 22, 2011 – Evergreen Events, organizers of the 2011

LOGIN Conference, bolstered the learning and networking that fuels the online gaming conference by securing renowned creator of the Ultima series, Richard Garriott, as the keynote speaker. Held on May 16-18 in Bellevue, Wash., the LOGIN Conference annually attracts hundreds of the brightest minds in the development and business side of the online game industry to the Seattle area.

 

One of the gaming world’s legendary designers, Garriott earned that status with his design of the Ultima role-playing games, one of the most successful computer game series ever. Ultima Online was the world’s first commercially successful massively multi-player online role-playing game.

 

On May 17, the iconic game designer will discuss at length how this dynamic era of social gaming can be bettered by learning from the two classic gaming eras that preceded it – the single-player games that dominated the 1980s and 1990s and the massively multiplayer online games of the 2000s.

 

“We are now in the midst of a new era of gaming, defined by cheap or free-to-play, virally spread, casually begun gameplay,” said Garriott, a 2006 inductee to the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. “Each grand era has grown the gaming market tenfold! Solo player games in the 80s and 90s sold to millions, MMOs are reaching to tens of millions; the gaming industry is dawning on – at long last – a truly global audience of both genders and all ages. What lessons of history are useful? What truly new challenges await us? What will casual online games look like in five years?”

 

Garriott currently serves as the vice president and creative director for the Austin-based social media games developer and publisher Portalarium. He asserts that the reality of the new global gaming audience means developers who aren’t addressing those problems, will be left behind.

 

“When it comes to all subject matters dealing with online game development, LOGIN clearly carved out a leadership position on the conference circuit,” said Garriott. “I’m looking forward to interacting with some of the most influential people in the games business in Seattle and in particular I’m interested in furthering the conversation about the future of social media online games.”

 

“Richard is truly a visionary, not only in game development, but also in his goal for opening up space exploration to private citizens,” stated Peter Freese, LOGIN Conference director. “I can’t think of a more fitting and inspiring speaker to commemorate LOGIN’s fifth annual conference. I’m thrilled to have him as our first keynote and can’t wait to hear what insight and anecdotes he shares with attendees.”

 

In October 2008, Richard realized a lifelong dream to travel to space when he launched aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft to the International Space Station and became the first second-generation American to fly to space. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on commercial space travel and currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council.

 

Conveniently located near many of Washington’s best and brightest game developers and publishers, as well as the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, the LOGIN Conference will add value to attendees seeking ready access to the heart of the game industry in the Northwest. The majority of game companies near Seattle are located east of the city; among these 42 game developers and publishers are household names like Microsoft Game Studios and Nintendo, as well as Valve, Gas Powered Games, Sony Online Entertainment, Gazillion and many others.For more information about the conference, venue and agenda, check out the LOGIN Conference website at http://www.loginconference.com.