The Game Developers Conference will take the reigns as the largest trade exhibition for the gaming community, following the recently announced scale-backs of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)in August.

On Tuesday, GDC announced the size of the show floor it will use is more than twice the space previously used, in order to incorporate the growth of attendees at its San Francisco event next March.

As GDC enters its 20 th year, it emerges as the event with the largest gravitational pull of any other game industry-only event, said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the GDC.

While it remains our primary goal to serve the game development community and ensure that the session-based half of GDC remains unchanged, Moldeina adds, we also believe it is time to dramatically upgrade the range of expo opportunities. The result of our expansion is that GDC becomes the natural choice for all companies in the game industry ecosystem to exhibit and conduct business.

Booth spaces, expo suites and meeting rooms will be available for vendors, while the new Game Demo Theatre will showcase upcoming games from developers and publishers.

For 2007 the GDC will also add a casual/independent reception and a dedicated Independent Games Conference to compliment the Independent Games Festival taking place as a part of the Game Developers Conference.

In August, the Entertainment Software Association, parent of E3, announced it was down-sizing its own gaming convention, seeking a more intimate environment focused on personalized meetings and activities.

Gaming