GDC Organizers Reveal Details of Latest Rebrand to “GDC Festival of Gaming”

GDC also retains its digital pass, which offers access to the GDC Vault and online-only networking, as well as a limited number of “Early Stage Indie & Start-up” passes for smaller companies and academia. Pricing and other details for all passes can be found on the official GDC website. Other changes include evening events, and a more varied content program, with keynotes returning and new formats added. 

GDC’s rebrand was met with a healthy amount of skepticism following the announcement in September. Many have cited cost issues as well as America’s political shift since Trump’s re-election as reasons for dwindling interest in attending. While passes are generally cheaper, attending an event such as this is still a huge expense, especially when considering hotel costs and general expenses in a city as expensive as San Francisco.

These changes also do nothing to address the shadow the new U.S. administration has left, with the global video game development community being understandably reluctant to visit the country. General safety concerns for those not originally born in the United States is at an all time high with Trump’s policies against immigrants, as well as the decision to send armies of ICE agents and the National Guard to major cities. GDC is particularly under threat, as San Francisco is one of the cities Trump has previously attempted sending the National Guard to, though he has since backed off the threat. 

With a widespread lack of funding and hiring happening in the games industry, mass layoffs for established teams, and general hostility from GDC’s host country, the conference might have to do more than just a rebrand to sell people on attending.