GDC draws the crowd
The GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 is underway in San Francisco, pulling over 1,000 industry professionals for five days of panels and networking — a reminder SF still commands major creative and tech convenings coverage.
Organizers reported) the Festival hosted 1,100 speakers, more than 700 sessions and 300+ exhibitors with participants from over 85 countries. Independent industry counts reported) the event drew more than 20,000 unique attendees across March 9–13. Major partners and exhibitors on the show floor included NVIDIA, Meta, Nintendo, Disney Games Group, Reddit and Roblox listed). Nightly city programming featured a kickoff at Oracle Park, live concerts and awards celebrations coordinated by the Festival announced). The rebrand to “GDC Festival of Gaming” and a pricing overhaul were announced in October 2025 to broaden access to content reported), with Festival Passes starting at $1,199 and Indie/Start‑up passes from $649 on the official site listed). Organizers [announced]() the Festival will return March 1–5, 2027 and that the call for submissions opens in early July 2026. Press coverage at the event highlighted AI-driven development tools and Microsoft’s Project Helix among the top themes discussed on panels and in demos noted).
