GDC 2012 to include lectures from IO Interactive, WB Games Seattle and Dear Esther sessions

A second round of lectures for GDC 2012′s Main Conference have been announced, and the set includes a look at the crowd system in Hitman: Absolution, a talk from WB Games Seattle, and a session from Dear Esther's creator on indie success.

Lecture details are listed below, courtesy of Gamasutra:

• Programming - Kasper Fauerby of IO Interactive explains how the studio designed and implemented Hitman: Absolution's crowd system. The lecture, titled Crowds in Hitman: Absolution, will feature Fauerby discussing the system's design and implementation, giving attendees some insight into the benefits and complexities involved in creating believable and dynamic virtual crowds.

• Production and Business, Marketing & Management - WB Games VP and general manger Laura Fryer will host "Kinematics and Other Techniques for Managing the Creative Process." Here, she will discuss the best ways to "balance creative freedom with the business necessities of game development," using examples from games such as Microsoft and Zipper's Crimson Skies, Monolith's Gotham City Impostors, and more.

• Game Design - Mod developer and thechineseroom creative director Dan Pinchbeck will host a lecture titled Dear Esther: Making an Indie Success Out of an Experimental Mod. In it, Pinchbeck will talk of his experience working on his critically acclaimed Source engine mod and will pick apart the relationship between mechanics and the game world. He will also be "pondering some of the less-explored realms of game design and interactive storytelling."

GDC 2012 runs March 5 through March 9 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.