With Spring bringing new life around the world, it also signifies a new dawn for what many of us have missed: conferences and events! So last week, our COO, Mathieu Huysman, and our CTO, Tim De Wachter, attended one of the most significant video gaming events of the year: the Game Developers Conference (GDC)!
GDC Explained
Originally titled the Computer Game Developers Conference, the first official 'conference' actually began as an informal gathering of 25 developers in the San Jose, California, living room of game designer Chris Crawford. While GDC first started with a focus on computer games, over the years, it has now expanded to encompass a range of platforms such as consoles, mobile and portable devices, tablets, internet, and computer games, as well as the upcoming VR and AR area for games and entertainment. To date, GDC continues to define market innovations and attract some of the biggest names in the video game industry and give insight into the future of gaming year after year.
Taking place across five action-packed days, the GDC brings the game development community even closer together to exchange ideas, solve problems, and define the industry's future. Many attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, and business leaders. The event features an expo, networking events, award shows such as the Game Developers Choice Awards and the Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics.
Presenting amongst our Peers
Mat and Tim were thrilled and honored to be invited and even more ecstatic to be key speakers at this event. Presenting during the middle of the week, Mat and Tim spread the gospel of Cyrex and our award-winning services in their 30-minute presentation "The Art of Game Hacking". The talk had full attendance, with the audience curious to know the ins and outs of expert game hackers' minds and how our testing services ensure the best quality services. Followed up by a Q&A section at the end, they answered various questions about how best to stay secure against malicious actors. (Spoiler alert, getting in touch with us was a reoccurring answer!)
But the presentation just wasn't enough for the audience, as Mat and Tim both spoke with dozens of others afterwards, each wanting more advice about game security. It was great to see what kind of effect the presentation had on the audience, but the morning's biggest surprise was a member gifted our speakers a gamepad as a small token of appreciation! A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.
While the presentation was certainly a high point of the week for the team, we always take pride in networking with our partners, clients, and other prominent industry names. So, it was great to see and talk to representatives from Riot Games, EA, Blizzard, Plarium, Square Enix, and dozens more who attended and spoke at the event. After the rollercoaster and uncertainty of the past few years, it has been a breath of fresh air to finally connect with other industry leaders.
Walking around on the ground floor, attending other speakers' talks, and getting a bite to eat at the hotels gave us ample opportunity to meet existing and new partners, such as Immutable, Iron Galaxy Studios, and Accelbyte to name a few. The week was over in the blink of an eye due to how busy and fun it was. We're very excited to share more news about these encounters and plans over the coming weeks!
Overall, GDC 2022 was a massive success, and it was truly an honor to have Cyrex play a part and provide helpful insights into the world of game hacking. We look forward to the year ahead with other events, but we will certainly be counting down the days until GDC 2023. So, until next year, stay secure!
To discover more about Cyrex, check out our blog and portfolio page. We also offer comprehensive manual penetration testing for games and non-gaming applications. For any other questions, please get in touch.