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What is the Game Developers Conference?

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world's largest professional game industry event.

GDC brings together 28,000 attendees to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry with five days of education, inspiration, and networking at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

Attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences.

The market-defining GDC Conference features 750 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development and VR/AR topics taught by leading industry experts.

The GDC Expo showcases the latest game development tools and services from 550 leading technology companies such as Amazon, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Oculus, Sony, and Unreal Engine. Attendees can use GDC Connect business matchmaking to set up meetings and explore new partnerships and business opportunities.

GDC attendees can relax, play inventive and innovative games, and meet new people throughout the week at interactive spaces, themed areas for indie games, retro games, alternative controllers, and more. This year marked the debut of the GDC Film Festival, one of the first ever documentary & narrative film fests focused on the art and culture of video games.

GDC hosts two award ceremonies recognizing the creativity, artistry and technical genius of the finest developers and games. The Game Developers Choice Awards are the leading peer-based video game awards show celebrating the industry’s top games and developers. The Independent Games Festival honor the most innovative and exemplary projects in indie game development.

GDC is organized by UBM, which in June 2018 combined with Informa PLC to become a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.ubm.com and www.informa.com

History of GDC

The Game Developers Conference began as an informal gathering of 25 developers in the living room of a notable game designer. Initially focused on computer games, GDC has grown and diversified along with the game industry to include a variety of platforms including consoles, mobile & handheld devices, tablets, online, and computer games and is expanding into the emerging VR and AR space for games and entertainment. In 2016, GDC commemorated the 30th edition of the conference. From year to year, GDC continues to define market innovations and provide insight into the future of games.