Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, general manager and CEO of BioWare and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, co-founder and vice president, Entertainment and Miscellaneous, of BioWare will give a keynote address at the inaugural Game Developers Conference Canada (GDC Canada). The keynote, entitled “Emotionally Engaging Narrative: Gaming’s New Frontier,” will take place on the morning of May 13, 2009. BioWare is an award-winning development studio with locations in Edmonton and Montreal, Canada, and Austin, Texas, known for critical and commercial hit games such as Baldur’s Gate Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect and many others that place storyline and emotion at the forefront. The Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications will bring GDC Canada to the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre May 12-13, 2009.

BioWare was founded in 1995 by Zeschuk and Muzyka and acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008, where both founders are now vice presidents. BioWare’s games include the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Among the many highly-anticipated BioWare titles are the fantasy epic Dragon Age: Origins as well as Mass Effect 2, the sequel to the 2007 Game of the Year, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) title. In addition to their work at BioWare and Electronic Arts, Zeschuk and Muzyka serve as directors and co-chairmen of CodeBaby Corp., a software company developing a next generation interface for digital media and the Internet.

“We couldn’t have found two more appropriate speakers for the inaugural GDC Canada, as Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk are two of the most esteemed members of the game development community worldwide, and certainly leaders amongst the Canadian game development community,” said Izora de Lillard, event director at Think Services Game Group. “Both are also pioneers of the move towards making games that tell rich stories and affect players on a deep emotional level; we look forward to hearing how they inspire the attendees of GDC Canada to push their games into what they are rightfully calling gaming’s ‘new frontier.’”

The Game Developers Conference  Canada will feature global perspectives on cross-discipline and cross-platform content, and will serve as an opportunity for developers to share best practices for fostering excellence and quality games. GDC Canada, presented by the Think Services Game Group and Reboot Communications, will cover industry leading methodologies in game design, production, programming, visual arts and writing for big-budget multiplatform videogames. Conference sessions have been announced on the GDC Canada website with speakers from Electronic Arts Black Box, Monkeyshines Entertainment and Maxis/Electronic Arts recently confirmed, and others being added continuously. To register for GDC Canada, learn about sponsorship opportunities or to view conference information, please visit www.gdc-canada.com.