Lyon GDC chief: Developers must improve market knowledge

The organiser of the industry’s popular Game Connection events, and the upcoming Lyon GDC, has told Develop that developers must prepare wisely for the future of the games industry by increasing their knowledge of the market and producing innovative titles.

Comments from Connection Events’ Pierre Carde come in an interview published on Developmag.com today discussing the new Lyon GDC event and accompanying B2B meeting event, which take place in December.

Lyon GDC is fruit of a partnership between GDC organiser CMP and Connection events. In the interview, Carde looks back on over five years of running Game Connection and his new role overseeing the conference to talk about the challenges developers are facing and how the event is tailored to answer them.

"With Wii and DS representing the largest market share, developers must be ready to innovate to meet the expectations of a widening market," he said, adding that developers must also seize their independence to step out of the shadows of publishers.

"They need to operate more independently and be able to market their company and games more adeptly," said Carde. "The evolution of the industry with the growth of local and regional developers and publishers, and digital distribution is going to have a strong impact on the development community."

Developers could do well to learn more about the industry as a whole, he added: "Most developers (especially in Europe) are blind when it comes to market growth and market share data."

The full interview can be found here.