GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 Trends Report Offers Expert Perspectives on Generative AI, Co-Development, Advocacy, Game Publishing & Financing and More
SAN FRANCISCO--( BUSINESS WIRE)--The organizers of GDC Festival of Gaming have released the second annual GDC Trends Report. The report provides key insights on emerging trends and themes in the game development community drawn from GDC sessions, panels and activations, with personal accounts and perspectives of a diverse mix of thought leaders, experts and innovators. The emerging trends that were actively discussed at GDC Festival of Gaming include the rise and ethical use of generative AI, the expanding embrace of co-development as a solution to the need for more staff and resources and the challenge of securing funding and publisher partnerships. The complimentary 2026 Trends Report can be downloaded here.
Among the themes within the Trends Report are the following topics shaping the games industry and fueling the larger conversation at GDC Festival of Gaming:
The full report expands upon each of the key topics as well as related fields, and is informed by the perspective of noted GDC speakers who continue to push the creativity, resilience, and connection in the industry forward, including Tencent Games’ Head of Technology, Nathan Chen; PlayStation Studios’ Head of Production, John Doyle; Playstack’s Head of Discovery, Patrick Johnson and others.
Much like the GDC Festival of Gaming itself, the report sheds a light on the incredible achievements of the artists in the industry, with interviews featuring IGF Award-winners Jenny Jiao Hsia (creator of Consume Me and developer of Titanium Court), AP Thomson (creator of Titanium Court) and Game Developers Choice Awards winner Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Lead writer, voice and localization producer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), and an interview looking back at Austin Wintory’s inspiring “A Developer’s Concert” performance. The Trends Report features further insights into the emergent trends in game development with a slate of interviews with the following industry innovators who took part in GDC Festival of Gaming as speakers, award winners, artists and panel participants:
GDC Festival of Gaming made its debut in 2026 as a boldly transformed event, designed to reflect the broader interconnected ecosystem of today’s games industry. The Festival brings together thousands of game-makers, publishers, distributors, investors, founders, technologists, toolmakers, marketers, educators, and media from around the globe for a week of connection, discovery, learning and celebration. GDC Festival of Gaming will be returning to San Francisco and the Moscone Center next year, Monday, March 1 to Friday, March 5, 2027.
For more information on the GDC Festival of Gaming, please visit the official website, or subscribe to regular updates via LinkedIn, Facebook, X or BlueSky. Official photos are available via the GDC Flickr account.
About GDC Festival of Gaming
GDC Festival of Gaming is the world’s largest professional game industry event with market-defining content for programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision makers and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences. GDC brings together the global game industry community year-round through events and digital media, including GDC Vault, GameDeveloper.com, Independent Games Festival, and the Game Developers Choice Awards.
GDC is organized by Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and one of the leading B2B Events organizers in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information visit www.informa.com.