The Game Developers Conference is holding its 28th conference next week in San Francisco, which last year attracted over 24,000 game developers to the week-long mix of tutorials, workshops, lectures, exhibit hall, game awards, and networking. Any company that has any interest in the games industry will generally find a way to be there in some way, even if it’s only virtually.

The fascinating thing about GDC is that it covers the entire scope of the game industry. “We do make sure we have good diversity of companies and genders and such like within our board members and I think we’ve done a good job of reflecting a lot of the changes — the move from AAA to indie or at least the diversification that we’ve seen so I’m proud that we’re a show where Blizzard and Riot talk about stuff but also some of the smallest indies talk about stuff,” said UBM Tech’s Simon Carless.

There are seven different session tracks at GDC, including Advocacy, Audio, Business/Marketing/Management, Design, Monetization, Production, Programming, and Visual Arts. There’s also eight different summits, which include AI, Community Management, eSports, F2P, Game Narrative, Education, Independent Games, and Martphone & Tablet games. There is far more than any one person or even a team of people can take in, which is why it’s fortunate that GDC records most sessions for later review.

Consoles will, as usual feature heavily at GDC, with plenty of sessions devoted to talking about console games. There’s no doubt that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will be making an effort to sway more developers to working on their platforms. It’s quite likely that there will be some new tools and features unveiled by the manufacturers for their consoles, so keep an eye on the news.

Virtual Reality (VR) will be very much real at GDC, even if there may not be a lot of hard information to be had on tech specs, prices, and release dates. Sony will be offering up more experience with Project Morpheus, and we can expect to see a lot of the Oculus Rift in evidence. There are other VR/AR contenders as well, such as Microsoft’s HoloLens, CastAR, Magic Leap, Samsung’s Gear VR, and even Google’s new collaboration with Mattel on the ViewMaster. There will be plenty of discussions about VR, both formal, and informal, and you’ll see all these companies (and more)

Valve has just released the following statement to the press: “Valve will show a family of new Steam devices at next week’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, CA. Products being demonstrated at GDC include Steam Machines with the final Steam Controller, new living room devices, and a previously-unannounced SteamVR hardware system. Developers and publishers interested in experiencing the new SteamVR hardware may request to schedule a GDC demo at http://www.steampowered.com/universe.”

Valve also noted that it has surpassed 125 million active accounts worldwide in its 13 years. Steam now offers 4500 games, with 400 million pieces of user-generated content contributed by members of the Steam Community. It will be interesting to see what response Valve gets as it tries to make the Steam Machine into a competitive new console.

Mobile games, of course, will be in full attendance at GDC. The conference’s center of attention is swinging in that direction, right along with the way the majority of revenue in the industry is trending. Many of the sessions will be devoted to all aspects of mobile games.

 

GDC Strategy
It’s best to have a plan of attack before hitting the show and becoming overwhelmed by the array of choices ahead of you. There’s plenty of walking involved between the various sections of Moscone (North, South, and West), as well as other nearby venues — so you have to factor in transit time between events that you want to attend.

Don’t forget to plan for time to network. Schedule those important meetings well in advance, so you can avoid conflicts with things you really want to attend. Bring plenty of business cards, which are still useful even in this highly technological industry.

The Expo is also a key place to visit, where you can find hundreds of companies showing all maner of products and services aimed at the game industry — as well as very active recruting efforts by a number of companies. The Expo is also a prime source of information about where the industry is headed, and what things will be important in the coming year. After all, if there’s a dozen companies that have spent a lot of money to by booths to tell you about something, it’s probably going to be an important part of business to know about.

No mention of GDC would be complete without referencing the parties and other events that are going on throughout the show. There are cocktail receptions, massive musical events, and invitation-only gatherings for every variety of product, service, and company. There’s far more than anyone can attend, and even all the walking you’ll do won’t be enough to burn off the calories you could consume at these events if you’re not careful. Pace yourself, especially when it comes to the liquor – few things are worse than trying to follow a technical presentation while suffering from a hangover.