Meridian 59 classic game postmortem added to 2012 game developers conference

On Wednesday, October 10th Damion Schubert, lead designer of the first commercial 3D massively multiplayer role-playing game (MMORPG) Meridian 59, will take the stage during the 2012 Game Developers Conference® (GDC) Online to share insights with attendees on how he and his team created the benchmark title, with a special Classic Game Postmortem lecture.

A creator and designer of games for more than fifteen years, Schubert has worked on some of the biggest titles in the online space, including Meridian 59, Sims Online, Shadowbane and Star Wars: The Old Republic. Meridian 59 was released commercially in the fall of 1996, it was the first to charge a monthly fee, use 3D graphics, and began an era that set the stage for the MMORPG genre as we know it. His pioneering work as lead designer on Meridian 59 at Archetype Interactive laid the groundwork for titles like EverQuest, World of Warcraft and thousands of others.

As previously announced, GDC Online 2012 will also feature a Classic Game Postmortem given by members of the original creative and production team behind another seminal online game: Ultima Online. Industry veterans Rich Vogel, Raph Koster and Starr M. Long will give attendees a behind the scenes look at what it took to create the title during their session on Thursday, October 11th. Introduced in 2011 at the Game Developers Conference, a sister show to GDC Online, the Classic Game Postmortem series allows audiences to discover the lessons learned by the makers of landmark game titles and find inspiration in understanding what it took to bring these genre defining games to life.

GDC Online takes place in Austin, Texas from October 9-11, 2012. For more information about speakers, sessions and registration, please visit<gp_link type="http" loc="//www.GDCOnline.com">www.GDCOnline.com</gp_link>.