GDC Festival of Gaming 2027

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutorials, lectures, and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts. In October 2025, it was announced that the event would be rebranded to GDC Festival of Gaming beginning the following year.

Language

English

Genres

comics-anime, trade

Organizer

UBM TechWeb, typically on the Wednesday of the GDC

Format

in-person

Duration (days)

4

Next edition

1–4 Mar 2027

Author participation

Indie/narrative/AI tools; networking for game or interactive fiction; Deadline: Passes via gdconf.com; housing open

Attendance published by the festival

18000

Audience

In 2005, the GDC moved to the new Moscone Center West in the heart of San Francisco's SOMA district, and reported over 12,000 attendees.

Language notes

Listed working language: English

Genre notes

Primary focus: comics-anime; Also listed: trade

Programme

Crawford continued to give the conference keynote address for the first several years of the conference, including one in the early 1990s where he punctuated a point about game tuning and player involvement by cracking a bullwhip perilously close to the front row of the audience.

Awards

The IGF and the GDCA are presented back to back, in an awards show produced by UBM TechWeb, typically on the Wednesday of the GDC.

Past editions

1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2025, 2026

Festival site