When we broke the news of Jim Ward quitting LucasArts last week, I mentioned that he would no longer be speaking at the DICE conference this week.

The folks at Kohnke weren't able to tell me who would be taking his place, but today when I hopped onto the DICE site I see he is no longer listed and that there have been a number of changes to the line-up. It looks like Oddworld's Lorne Lanning is also no longer speaking at the conference and that folks from Namco and Massive Black have been added.

Hit the jump for the before and afters, according to the DICE schedule. (Thanks to GameLife, which ran the old schedule last week and made it possible for me to do some comparisons.)

1:45 PM - 2:45 PM — Breaking the Broken Model!: Jim Ward, President, LucasArts
"The New "Gamer": Closing Gaps in our Growing Industry": Michael Gallagher, President, ESA:

Replaced with:

Robin Kaminsky, Executive VP Publishing, Activision (perhaps talking about Implementing Creativity)
The New "Gamer": Closing Gaps in our Growing Industry" Michael Gallagher, President, ESA

2:45 PM - 3:30 PM — "But wait, there's more!" Lessons learned in creating & selling original IP!: Lorne Lanning, Oddworld

Replaced with:

Everyone said it wasn't possible with six grand...so we did it anyway—Then came the acquisition discussions. Jason Manley, CEO, Massive Black
How Great Game Characters Get Made Roger Hector, VP Development, Namco Bandai Games

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM — Power Hour: Implementing Creativity: Robin Kaminsky, Executive VP Publishing, Activision, Dr. Mark Ollila, Director Strategy & Research, Nokia

Replaced with

Game Maker's Surprise Dr. Mark Ollila, Director Strategy & Research, Nokia

DICE

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