EA development tsar to keynote HTML5 event

Electronic Arts will send its distinguished chief creative officer to an inaugural game conference that specialises on the HTML5 standard.

Richard Hilleman, who’s been pioneering in the industry for more than 25 years, is the first keynote speaker announced for the New Game 2011 conference.

The introductory event takes place in San Francisco this November and promises discussion and debate on emerging browser technologies.

Some of the biggest players in the browser games space, such as Google, Spil, Mozilla and Opera, will each have devs or execs in attendance.

The nature of Hilleman’s keynote has yet to be detailed. He began working for EA in the nineties, and built the publisher’s first Mega Drive (Genesis) titles such as Madden and NHL.

A second keynote speaker is due for revel soon.

More details of the event can be found here.

EA has undergone a punishing transition towards digital in the past 24 months. Its global triple-A studio capacity has thinned while new social companies have joined the group.

Playfish was acquired in 2009 for upwards of $300 million, while casual giant PopCap was this year bought for $750 million.

Executive circles from within the publisher continue to say digital content is the game industry’s future.