Otobe will also discuss the company's approach to reconcile commercial entertainment economics with the realities, challenges, and opportunities of the serious games industry. The session will also feature demos of prototype games and titles currently under development.

"I am honored and excited to deliver the opening keynote at the Serious Games Summit GDC," said Otobe. "The serious games market represents a new outlet for our skills as a game developer, and it means that we will be serving totally different customers. As such, there are many different kinds of hurdles that must be cleared in order for it to offer meaningful opportunities. I plan to speak about Square Enix's approach to these challenges, and hopefully provide both business and design inspiration for everyone interested in the uses of games beyond entertainment."

"We are thrilled to make this announcement. This keynote signifies the growing impact serious games can have not only outside of games but within the games industry - even for major companies like Square Enix," said Ben Sawyer, co-founder, Digitalmill, and SGS GDC content chair. "We have constantly taken the approach that serious games gets its core strength from the great work arising from our
best industry resources. This year's SGS GDC will speak to this and we look forward to the industry-wide reflection and innovation which will undoubtedly spring from the Summit and this address in particular."

SGS GDC offers advanced seminars on design, production, implementation and assessment issues related to serious games, as well as case studies on game-based solutions and simulations used within non-entertainment industries. Attendees are invited to the annual SGS GDC Reception that will be held March 5 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. that provides them the opportunity to network with game developers and industry professionals. The SGS GDC speaker line-up, full session descriptions, and registration are now available online at <http://sgs.gdconf.com>. Press registration is also currently open for the Summit and Game Developers Conference, at www.gdconf.com <http://www.gdconf.com>.