GDC Reimagined as Festival of Gaming with Lower Prices and New Focus The Game Developers Conference, a cornerstone event for the video game industry, is undergoing its most significant transformation in years. The conference is now being rebranded as the GDC Festival of Gaming and will feature a simplified pass structure, lower prices for many attendees, and a renewed emphasis on networking and community. A major change comes with the new ticket system. The core offering is the new Festival Pass, which replaces the old All-Access pass. This new pass provides entry to all of the event’s main content programming and is priced at 649 dollars, representing a 45 percent decrease from the previous equivalent pass. Two other primary pass types round out the options. The Digital Pass is available for 799 dollars and grants access to online-only networking events. For the highest level of access, the Game Changer Pass is priced at 1,700 dollars. This invite-only tier includes everything in the other passes plus entry to a facilitated meetings program promising connections with industry leaders and a special talk series called the Luminaries Speaker Series. The organization is also offering discounts for indie developers, startups, and academics that can reduce the cost of these passes by an additional 200 to 300 dollars. The content and layout of the event are also shifting. Organizers state that the changes are a direct response to community feedback and are designed to serve professionals across every stage of a game’s life cycle. A greater focus will be placed on facilitating connections between attendees. The traditional Expo Hall has been redesigned and renamed the Festival Hall. This space will prioritize game demos and social areas to encourage developers to connect with one another. GDC president Nina Brown described the new vision as celebrating the vital interconnection between creators, leaders and partners that drive the industry forward. The newly reimagined GDC Festival of Gaming is scheduled to take place in San Francisco from March 9 to March 13 of next year. Passes for the event are currently on sale.
