D.I.C.E. Summit 2016: First Speakers Announced

NEW VENUE, NEW SPEAKERS AND NEW FORMAT
ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2016 D.I.C.E. SUMMIT 

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is pleased to announce registration is now open for the 2016 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE2016), which will move to its new home, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, February 16 - 18, 2016.   Speakers and attendees will explore the magical and sometimes elusive Art of Engagement – sharing insights about the varying ways to enlist and captivate an audience while building the entertainment medium of the future.  And to foster the discussion, D.I.C.E. 2016 is enhancing the traditional Summit format with roundtable, break-out sessions to tackle dedicated topics and concepts.

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New Venue

The D.I.C.E. Summit is moving to its new Las Vegas home and venue, Delano Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. D.I.C.E. guests will be staying at this world-class, luxury resort while the conference and Awards show will be taking place at The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. 

Roundtables, New Format

New to D.I.C.E. 2016 will be the inclusion of focused roundtable-type, break-out sessions. Each year, the AIAS is challenged to find ways to facilitate new networking opportunities that will deepen the attendee experience. Based on the overwhelming success of our roundtable experience at the 2015 D.I.C.E. Europe event in Barcelona, AIAS will extend this concept to the Vegas Summit. Roundtable break-out sessions are meant to be moderated group discourse.

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Announcing New Speakers

One game that typifies the theme of engagement is Civilization. For 25 years, Sid Meier’s turn-based strategy game has been engaging gamers the world over. To celebrate this milestone, D.I.C.E. will host the “Civilization 25th Anniversary Panel” featuring some of the key members of the development team who will compare and contrast early game development versus today and share their favorite anecdotes from over the years. Panel participants include: 

  • Sid Meier, co-founder and director of creative development at Firaxis Games. Over the last three decades he has played an influential role in establishing strategy games as a cornerstone of video gaming, and is often regarded as “The Godfather of Computer Gaming.”
  • Brian Reynolds, Chief Creative Officer of Big Huge Games.  Reynolds’ videogames have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide, and he has masterminded the design of several smash hits including Civilization II, Alpha Centauri, and Rise of Nations, as well as Settlers of Catan for Xbox360 Live Arcade.
  • Soren Johnson is CEO and Design Director of Mohawk Games. Johnson has 15 years of experience developing strategy games as both lead designer and gameplay programmer. While at Firaxis, Soren designed Civilization IV, one of the highest-rated strategy games of all time and was also the co-designer of Civilization III. 
  • Bruce Shelley, who helped develop the Age of Empires series.  While working at MicroProse with Sid Meier, Bruce helped to design the original Sid Meier’s Civilization, alongside fan favorites such as Railroad Tycoon.  Shelley will moderate the panel.

Additional industry luminaries who will take to the D.I.C.E. 2016 stage include:

  • Todd Howard, game director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios. Howard is best known for his work on The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim – all of which have been ‘Game of the Year’ winners. He and his team are currently wrapping up development on Fallout 4. Howard will be participating in a conversation on stage discussing Bethesda’s approach to their games and franchises.
  • Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO, Glu Mobile Inc. de Masi will be addressing, “Community First” discussing the recent shift wherein companies, influencers, and celebrities share news directly with their communities first, and media second.
  • Mike Gallagher, CEO, Entertainment Software Association (ESA).  In his session Gallagher will highlight how together the video games industry can affect change, protect the interests of the industry and gamers, and cement their position atop the leaderboard. 

To submit your speaker proposal for consideration, please contact Debby Chen at [email protected].

Click here to register.
Click here to learn about the announced speakers.
Click here for the full press release.