The new Game Developers Conference unveiled details of its shifted focus today, as it attempts to evolve from its roots as a gathering of industry professionals into something organizers refer to as both a festival and a celebration. 

The GDC Festival of Gaming takes place from March 9 to March 13, 2026, in San Francisco.

“In a time of great change, we can build walls or build bridges — and the game industry has always thrived by coming together,” said Mark DeLoura, GDC’s Executive Director of Innovation and Growth. “The GDC Festival of Gaming strengthens those connections, celebrating creativity and supporting everyone who brings games to life, from napkin sketch to global launch.”

This first “Festival of Gaming” coincides with GDC’s 40th edition and will include new ways to network, a redesigned festival hall, expanded nightly offerings, and a new pass structure with a lower-cost way to attend portions of the conference.

“We are excited to reveal the blueprint for GDC Festival of Gaming, celebrating the vital interconnection between creators, leaders, and partners that drive the industry forward,” said Nina Brown, President of GDC. “This new era is rooted in dialogue with our community. And it’s only the beginning.”

The reimagined Festival Hall will be open from Wednesday to Friday of the convention and be organized into five distinct “neighborhoods”: Game Development, Future Tech, Indie & Education, International, Monetization & Player Engagement. Each of the neighborhoods will include demos, micro-sessions, and places to sit down and talk.

GDC Nights now adds an opening night social mixer and an “Austin Wintory’s Developer Concert” to the annual Independent Games Festival Awards and Game Developers' Choice Awards to the events happening in the evenings of the show. 

Changes to amplify networking opportunities include things like Speed Networking, and an invite-only “GamePlan,” which is designed to bring “qualified executives, decision-makers, and innovators together for pre-scheduled, facilitated 1:1 meetings.”

Of course, the main attraction of the convention, the talks, remains a chief component of the convention. There will still be postmortems, technical sessions, and talks on advocacy. Added to the mix this year is a three-day Luminaries Speaker Series at the Blue Shield of California Theater.

Pass structure has also been changed, with a new, lower-cost Festival Pass that provides access to the sessions, the hall, networking, and the nightly celebrations. The Game Changer Pass will be required to access the Luminaries Speaker Series and for GamePlan. There will also be an online-only networking digital pass, as well as some application-based options for early-stage indies, start-ups, and academia.

The Game Developers Conference started out as the Computer Game Developers Conference in 1988 in San Jose, California at the home of organizer Chris Crawford. It expanded each year, growing to fill a hotel, a conference center, and eventually outgrowing the town of San Jose and moving permanently to San Francisco in 2007. Last year’s show, now organized by Informa, drew about 30,000 attendees.