"In late September, my social media feeds lit up with rumors that the annual Game Developers Conference, held every spring at the Moscone Center, was going to change drastically in its 2026 iteration. One source for this speculation was an official slide deck that promised a rebrand to the "Festival of Gaming," a simplified and more affordable ticket pricing structure, official events spread out across the city, and new talk"
"formats and opportunities for attendees March 9-13. "The industry is changing," promises one of the slides, "and so are we." Many of the reactions I saw were bemused and cynical. Developers wondered if the rebrand meant that the industry-only conference would become open to consumers, like Seattle's PAX West, or if it meant that technologies like NFTs or cryptocurrency would have an increased presence. Over"
"the conference's official social media accounts posted CGI videos showing the old branding being destroyed by robots and aliens, many commenters assumed the videos were made with generative AI-which, given many gaming executives' open pro-AI stance, is perhaps an understandable assumption to make. The conference did indeed rebrand to " GDC Festival of Gaming." Yet underlying all this discussion was, to me, a set of interesting questions. Many of"
In late September, social media spread rumors that the annual Game Developers Conference would change drastically for 2026 at the Moscone Center. An official slide deck promised a rebrand to the "Festival of Gaming", simplified and more affordable ticket pricing, official events across the city, and new talk formats and opportunities March 9-13. Many reactions were bemused and cynical, with developers wondering if the conference would open to consumers or increase presence of NFTs or cryptocurrency. CGI videos showing old branding destroyed by robots and aliens led many to assume generative AI was involved. The conference did rebrand to "GDC Festival of Gaming". Industry layoffs, controversial emerging technologies, and major acquisitions raised questions about the purpose of an expensive, large-scale conference. Mark DeLoura was appointed executive director of innovation and growth.
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