GDC organisers "happy to have announcements around the show"

GDC global brand director Simon Carless has said that ThinkServices is "happy" to allow announcements at the show, an apparent u-turn on previous policy.

Carless said there's no problem with announcements being made at the event, but insists the main focus is on the developers.

"We’re happy to have announcements around the show, and this year I’m sure there will be some," he told Develop.

"These days, publishers tend to have press showcases off-site to make announcements, and that’s fine with us, but GDC is about developers coming together and learning new things. That’s what we concentrate on.

"Having said that, we are actually very happy to have a big expo floor where announcements are made, and we still have our large keynote addresses which are sometimes announcement-led. This year we have keynotes from companies like Nintendo, who are in a position to announce things if they wish to."

Carless's comment is in seeming contradiction to event director Meggan Scavio's previous words on the matter: she said last year that the event was "not about making news, it’s not about announcing things," insisting that E3 was the right venue for major reveals.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata is keynoting this year's event, where the focus will most likely be on 3DS.

PlayStation Home and LittleBigPlanet was announced at GDC in 2007, and Cliff Bleszinski famously announced Gears of War 2 in 2008 at Microsoft's GDC keynote.

PlayStation Move was announced at an off-site GDC event last year.

GDC kicks off on Wednesday, with the indie track beginning today. VG247's Stephany Nunneley and Nathan Grayson will be in San Francisco for the event. Read up on our coverage here.

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