[STEAM] GDC Festival of Gaming draws 20K visitors, down from 30K last year

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GDC Festival of Gaming drew 20,000 visitors to its 40th edition after five days of a new brand of conference for game developers in San Francisco this week.

Nina Brown, president of GDC, said in a

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that the event was the “first year of a bold new concept for GDC” and she was thrilled at the attendance from over 85 countries. By comparison, GDC said last year that “nearly” 30,000 had attended.

“The energy across the Festival, from packed sessions to a vibrant show floor and thousands of meetings happening throughout the week, demonstrates how powerful it is when our industry comes together to learn from one another, build partnerships and shape what comes next for games,” Brown said. “This transformation was built directly from community feedback, and we’re excited to continue listening, learning, and evolving the GDC Festival of Gaming as we look ahead to 2027.”

It was clear to me that some events were not very full in comparison to past year. The Game Developers Choice Awards show was in a much smaller space in the North Hall of Moscone, compared to the cavernous West Hall space that could hold 5,000 or so people. The opening night at the San Francisco Giants stadium also seemed lightly attended.

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Jason Ronald talked about the next Xbox at GDC. Source: GamesBeat/Dean Takahashi The week of GDC saw celebratory evening events every night, starting with Monday’s

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, followed by Tuesday’s 3rd annual

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. This year also included the 28th annual

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, honoring this year’s best independent titles, and the 26th annual

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, celebrating the dedicated artistry and craft behind the year’s best games. Amir Satvat, the game job champion, gave out 515 free passes to GDC, donated by the show organizer Informa.

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Don Daglow won the lifetime achievement award at GDC. Source: GamesBeat/Dean Takahashi It’s pretty impressive that a team of 40 people put on GDC, along with more than 450 volunteers. Overall, I’d say that I liked the new format better, with GDC embracing side events and having a smaller centerpiece event. From Monday through Friday, I never ran out of good people in the community to speak to.

GDC Festival of Gaming will return to San Francisco’s Moscone Center next year, Monday, March 1, to Friday, March 5, 2027.

Images from GDC Festival of Gaming are available at the official GDC Flickr page:

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