March 17–21, 2026 · Moscone Center, San Francisco
GDC 2026
Game Developers Conference
The world's largest professional game development event returns to San Francisco. Five days of sessions, summits, tutorials, the IGF Awards, and the GDC Festival of Gaming — uniting every discipline in the industry under one roof.
5
Days
700+
Sessions
29K+
Attendees
100+
Countries
Event Details
- Dates
- March 17–21, 2026
- Location
- Moscone Center
San Francisco, CA - Organiser
- Informa Tech
- Website
- gdconf.com
- Annual Since
- 1988
- Highlights
- IGF Awards · GDC Awards · Festival of Gaming
What Is GDC?
The Game Developers Conference is the world's premier professional event for video game creators. Founded in 1988, it brings together programmers, artists, designers, producers, audio engineers, and business leaders for five days of education, inspiration, and networking in San Francisco.
GDC is not a consumer expo — it is the industry talking to itself. Major studios announce engine features, indie developers debut experiments, and toolmakers compete for the attention of the people who build the games the world plays. Alongside formal sessions, the GDC Festival of Gaming opens the Expo floor to a broader audience, celebrating the art and culture of games.
Education
700+ sessions across programming, design, art, audio, business, and production tracks
IGF Awards
Independent Games Festival honours the best indie games of the year
GDC Awards
The industry's own awards — voted on by game developers themselves
Festival of Gaming
Public-facing expo showcasing the latest games, hardware, and tech
GDC 2026 Schedule
Mar 17
Mon
Summits & Tutorials
Deep-dive full-day tracks on AI, rendering, narrative design, accessibility, and more
Mar 18
Tue
Summits & Tutorials
Continued specialist summits including IGF Day, Audio Summit, and Mobile Summit
Mar 19
Wed
Main Conference Day 1
Keynotes, Vision tracks, Expo opens, and IGF Showcase begins
Mar 20
Thu
Main Conference Day 2
Award showcases, career sessions, networking events, and Festival of Gaming
Mar 21
Fri
Main Conference Day 3
Closing sessions, GDC Awards ceremony, and final Expo day
Session Tracks
GDC covers every discipline in professional game development.
Awards & Recognition
IGF Awards
Independent Games Festival — Since 1999
The Independent Games Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in independent gaming. Categories include the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Audio, and the Audience Award.
Ceremony: Thursday, March 20, 2026
GDC Awards
Game of the Year — Voted by Developers
Unique among industry awards, the GDC Awards are voted on exclusively by game developers — making them a true reflection of peer respect. Categories include Game of the Year, Innovation Award, Best Debut, and the Ambassador Award for community contributions.
Ceremony: Friday, March 21, 2026
Public Event
GDC Festival of Gaming
The GDC Festival of Gaming transforms the Moscone Expo floor into a celebration of games and game culture open to the public. Attendees can play hundreds of titles — from AAA blockbusters to IGF-nominated indie gems — and meet the developers behind them.
Hardware manufacturers, engine vendors, and middleware companies fill the Expo with live demos, hands-on stations, and career opportunities for anyone interested in working in games.
Get Tickets at gdconf.com →Playable Demos
Hundreds of games across all genres and platforms
Meet Devs
Get face time with the studios making your favourite games
Tech Showcases
Unreal, Unity, Godot and more showing next-gen tooling
Career Fair
Studios hiring — bring your portfolio and CV
Why GDC 2026 Is One to Watch
The 2026 edition arrives at a pivotal moment for the industry — amid rapid AI integration, major studio consolidation, and a resurgent indie scene.
AI in Game Development
Generative AI tools for art, dialogue, QA, and procedural content are moving from experiment to production pipeline. GDC's AI Summit will be the largest in the event's history.
Indie Renaissance
With major publishers contracting, independent studios are filling the creativity gap. Record IGF submissions signal a wave of boundary-pushing games coming to market.
Platform Wars
Competition between console, PC, mobile, and cloud gaming is reshaping business models. Cross-platform development, subscription economics, and live service sustainability are on every agenda.
GDC 2026 Coverage
Sessions, announcements, and analysis from Moscone Center.
Clair Obscur Devs Reveal GOTY Giant Built by Just 4 Programmers
Sandfall Interactive confirmed 95% of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was scripted in Unreal Engine 5 Blueprints — by a team that started with a single programmer. The game has now surpassed Elden Ring as the most awarded title in history with 436 GOTY wins.
Read more →Valve Outlines Steam Machine & Steam Frame Compatibility Standards
Valve confirmed 2026 launch targets for Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR, published Verified certification requirements, and blamed RAM supply-chain shortages for ongoing delays at a session attended by 450 developers.
Read more →Outersloth Rejects 100% of Generative AI Pitches
The indie fund backed by Among Us profits has processed ~3,400 submissions since 2022. Every single generative AI pitch has been turned down. Communications Director Victoria Tran: "I really like a game that has soul."
Read more →Follow ObjectWire's GDC Coverage
Live updates, announcements, and analysis throughout the conference week.