The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual event for people who create video games. The conference includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows such as the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival. It also features tutorials, lectures, and roundtables led by industry professionals who share knowledge about game development topics like programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.

In October 2025, it was announced that the event will be renamed GDC Festival of Gaming starting in 2026.

History

The first conference, originally called the Computer Game Developers Conference, was organized in April 1988 by Chris Crawford in his living room in San Jose, California. About 27 designers attended, including Don Daglow, Brenda Laurel, Brian Moriarty, Gordon Walton, Tim Brengle, Cliff Johnson, Dave Menconi, and Carol and Ivan Manley. The second conference, held that same year at a Holiday Inn in Milpitas, attracted about 125 developers. Early directors included Brenda Laurel, Tim Brengle, Sara Reeder, Dave Menconi, Jeff Johannigman, Stephen Friedman, Chris Crawford, and Stephanie Barrett. Later directors included John Powers, Nicky Robinson, Anne Westfall, Susan Lee-Merrow, and Ernest W. Adams. In the early years, the conference changed venues each year to accommodate its growing size. Attendance increased from 525 to 2,387 during this period. By 1994, the CGDC could afford to sponsor the creation of the Computer Game Developers Association, with Adams as its founding director. In 1996, Miller Freeman, Inc. (a division of United Newspapers, later UBM) took over organizing the conference, nearly doubling attendance to 4,000 that year. In 2005, the GDC moved to the new Moscone Center West in San Francisco’s SOMA district and reported over 12,000 attendees. The GDC returned to San Jose in 2006, reporting over 12,500 attendees, and moved to San Francisco in 2007, where it has remained for the foreseeable future. Attendance continued to grow, reaching 18,000 in 2008. The 2009 Game Developers Conference was held in San Francisco from March 23–27, 2009. The IGDA awarded 25 scholarships to send qualified students to attend the 2009 GDC.

Crawford gave the conference keynote address for the first several years, including one in the early 1990s where he used a bullwhip near the audience to emphasize a point about game tuning and player involvement. Crawford also founded The Journal of Computer Game Design in 1987 and served as its publisher and editor until 1996.

During the late 1990s, the conference expanded its focus to include topics like marketing and legal issues. The CGDC changed its name to "Game Developers Conference" (GDC) in 1999. The GDC has hosted the Spotlight Awards (1997–1999), the Independent Games Festival (since 1999), and the Game Developers Choice Awards (since 2001). The GDC also hosts the annual meeting of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is the first and largest competition for independent games, highlighting innovative work by developers of all sizes. Judges from the game industry select finalists and winners, and individual creators are named as award recipients. The IGF is managed by UBM TechWeb, the organizer of the GDC.

The Game Developers Choice Awards is the only open, peer-based awards show in the game industry. Any IGDA member may nominate games, and the membership votes on finalists. As with the IGF, individual creators are named as award recipients. Specialty awards like Lifetime Achievement and First Penguin are decided by the GDCA committee and are announced at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony during the GDC. The IGF and GDCA are presented back-to-back at the GDC, typically on Wednesday of the event, and are produced by UBM TechWeb.

UBM TechWeb added several events to the GDC in recent years. At the GDC Expo, developers showcase the latest techniques in game development. "GDC Mobile," first held in 2002, focuses on mobile game development. Starting in 2004, the GDC partnered with Game Connection to present Game Connection @ GDC, a live matchmaking service for developers and publishers, which expanded in 2007 to include Game Connection Services for outsourcing and other services. Starting in 2006, the GDC partnered with Video Games Live to feature a symphonic performance of video game music as the closing event. The GDC also hosted conference-wide game experiments designed by GameLab, such as the 2017 Board Game Design Day, which included talks on tabletop game design.

UBM TechWeb has also produced spinoff events, such as the first GDC Europe (GDCE), held at the European Computer Trade Show in London in 2001. Other events include the Serious Games Summit (focusing on games for education, training, and healthcare), the Hollywood and Games Summit, the Game Advertising Summit, the Game Outsourcing Summit, the Game Career Seminar, GDC Russia, the China Game Summit, GDC London, the London Games Summit, and the London Game Career Fair. In 2006, UBM TechWeb acquired The Game Initiative and now produces the Austin Game Developers Conference.

The 2020 GDC was the first to be fully postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers held the event virtually and announced GDC Summer as the next live event in August. In 2021, the in-person portion was canceled due to ongoing pandemic concerns, maintaining only virtual events.

With the 2026 event, the GDC organizers rebranded the event as the "GDC Festival of Games," citing changes in the video game industry and the need for more connection and support. The 2026 event took place shortly after the start of the 2026 Iran war and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, which affected attendance. Many non-American developers also chose not to attend due to U.S. immigration policies under the Trump administration. Attendance dropped to 20,000, about 10,000 fewer than previous years.

UBM TechWeb brought the GDC to Shanghai in 2007, where GDC China was held annually until 2015. GDC China hosted the annual Independent Games Festival China (IGF China

Recurring highlights

During the first two days of GDC, about half the time is used for tutorials. These are one- or two-day sessions that teach about specific topics. Tutorials are hands-on workshops that cover technical subjects like game design, audio, computer programming (such as physics, graphics, or web technologies), production, and business management.

A summit is a group of panels focused on a specific part of the game industry. These are usually held on the first two days of the conference. Past and current summit topics include mobile games, independent games, game education (for students wanting to join the industry), serious games, social games, artificial intelligence, and online games.

Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft, and Nintendo often give keynotes at the conference. These speeches show upcoming products and technologies. Keynotes at GDC are important sources of news about new console hardware and platforms, but they focus on developers rather than the general public. Some games in development or upcoming releases are also shown, but not as many as at other gaming events.

Since 2005, the "Rant" panel has been a popular session at GDC. This panel is led by Eric Zimmerman and Jason Della Rocca. Industry experts are invited to speak about issues they care about. The goal is to share honest opinions about the game industry and discuss problems and solutions. Rant sessions often focus on specific areas of the industry, such as:

• 2005: "Burning Down the House: Game Developers Rant"
• 2006: "Burn Baby, Burn: Game Developers Rant"
• 2007: "Burning Mad: Game Publishers Rant"
• 2008: "Pouring Gas on the Flames: Game Designers Rant"
• 2009: "Burned by Friendly Fire: Game Critics Rant"
• 2010: "Fired and Fired-Up: Jobless Developers Rant"
• 2011: "No Freaking Respect! Social Game Developers Rant Back"
• 2012: "Burn this MotherFather!: Game Dev Parents Rant"
• 2013: "Mad as Hell: Hothead Developers Rant Back"
• 2014: "Rant Apocalypse: The 10th Anniversary Mega Session"

The Rant panel has inspired similar sessions with specialized topics, such as "Game Educators Rant" during the Education Summit or rants during the Indie Game Summit.

Eric Zimmerman created the Game Design Challenge. The goal was to help people understand the process of game design and think about new kinds of games. No actual game needs to be built—only a design. The second annual challenge asked for a game based on Emily Dickinson. Will Wright won by designing a USB flash drive that simulated Emily Dickinson’s personality. The simulation would send instant messages and emails to the player, with the goal of maintaining a stable relationship and avoiding extremes like romantic obsession or suicidal depression. The third challenge asked for a game worthy of a Nobel Prize. Harvey Smith won with his game PeaceBomb, which used wireless devices to organize flash mobs for charity. For the first three challenges, Zimmerman said all the ideas could become real games.

The fourth challenge asked for a game that was or could become a religion. Jason Rohrer won by designing a one-player game called Chain World, stored on a USB flash drive.

The Experimental Gameplay Workshop is a session held at GDC in San Francisco. It shows experimental games and prototypes. The workshop was started by Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid. As of 2021, it was led by Robin Hunicke and Daniel Benmergui. Each year, about 20 games are chosen from over 250 submissions. Keita Takahashi showed his game Katamari Damacy at the workshop in 2004 before it was released in the US. In 2005, he said the workshop helped get the game released in the US. However, in 2009, he criticized the format, saying some games felt gimmicky and presentations were uninteresting.

The Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) are presented during the main GDC event early in the year. These awards are open to any game made in the previous year. Winners are chosen by members of the game development community.

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is held during the main GDC event early in the year. It is open to games from small studios and university students. The IGF ends with awards given to nominated games. These awards have cash prizes, with the Seumas McNally Grand Prize offering up to $30,000. The ceremony usually happens before the GDCA awards.

alt.ctrl.GDC is an exhibit at the GDC Expo where visitors can play games using special controllers and meet the developers. One game wins the alt.ctrl.GDC Award, which includes $2,000 and a trophy. The award is given during the IGF ceremony at GDC, with judging done on-site.