GDC Festival of Gaming Concludes With Over 20K Attendees

Bringing together over 20,000 attendees for five days of learning, networking, inspiration, and celebration, this year’s GDC Festival of Gaming has officially come to a close.

Setting out to address the needs of the entire games industry ecosystem, this transformed and re-branded GDC Festival of Gaming featured over 700 cross-disciplinary sessions from 1,100 speakers.

Nina Brown, President of GDC, said the following:

“This was the first year of a bold new concept for GDC.

We are thrilled that 20,000 unique attendees representing our global community showed up from over 85 countries and trusted us with this evolution. 

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. 

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.”

Mark DeLoura, Executive Director, Innovation & Growth at GDC, also said the following:

“We have heard loud and clear from our community this week that the redesigned GDC Festival of Gaming is starting to truly respond to their needs – from industry stalwarts who come to the show year after year to smaller indies seeking inspiration for their bold debut, to every branch of the industry that can now call GDC home.

We are so excited to bring the global industry together for the conversations around the big themes of the moment– currently the ethical and productive use of AI, emerging platforms like the next generation Xbox, and how to navigate career paths in a turbulent industry–and to continue to evolve what our event can offer as the pressing themes change next year and beyond.”

Looking to next year, GDC will return to San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center next year, from March 1 to March 5, 2027. 

On that note, the call for submissions for the GDC Festival of Gaming will open in early July 2026. 

Fans can stay connected around the GDC Festival of Gaming via its official Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky social media channels.

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