With 20,000 visitors, the GDC saw its attendance figures drop by around a third in the year of its rebranding compared to the previous year. However, GDC veterans also see hope that this drastic cut marks the start of a genuine fresh start.
If you look purely at the visitor numbers, it is hard to share the optimism that GDC President Nina Brown naturally has to convey in her review statement on GDC 2026. “This was the first year of a bold new concept for GDC. We are thrilled that 20,000 unique attendees representing our global community showed up from over 85 countries and trusted us with this evolution,” Brown said.
In fact, the figure of 20,000 visitors means that the GDC has lost a third of its visitors year-on-year. In 2025, the organisers were still able to report over 30,000 visitors.
The reasons for the decline are manifold and are likely to have far less to do with the rebranding than one might think. Between the 2025 and 2026 editions, the GDC reinvented itself as the GDC Festival of Gaming. The result was over 700 sessions by 1,100 speakers, thousands of meetings, as well as over 300 exhibitor and evening events, which took place on the grounds of the Moscone Centre and across San Francisco. “This transformation was built directly from community feedback, and we’re excited to continue listening, learning, and evolving the GDC Festival of Gaming as we look ahead to 2027,” Nina Brown said.
What the organisers could not have anticipated, however, were the numerous reservations and boycotts, particularly from international visitors. European industry representatives in particular, but also their Canadian counterparts, had announced on social media in the run-up to the event that they intended to stay away from this year’s GDC in protest against US policy. Many companies indicated that, whilst they intended to make use of the GDC, they would be sending fewer staff to attend in person.
What is interesting in hindsight, aside from the sobering figures – which are, however, understandable given the circumstances – is that many GDC attendees view the event in a thoroughly positive light. Industry journalist Dan Takahashi summed it up, for example, writing: “Indeed, 20,000 attendees was enough for me. I enjoyed meeting many of the most important game leaders in the industry at the event.“
In fact, he said it had been his busiest GDC ever, and that he had particularly enjoyed meeting members of the dev community. Industry veteran Don Daglow, who was honoured this year with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards, agrees with him on LinkedIn: “I agree with Dean Takahashi that the dramatic reboot of GDC this year produced a better and more game-dev-focused conference. I’m especially excited to see what Nina Rohde Brown GDC and longtime industry thought leader Mark DeLoura are able to do in 2027 now that the negative momentum of the event has turned positive again. I certainly had a fun week, and this was the consensus of my friends and contacts.”
Stephan Reichart has also written a lengthy and equally interesting recap. Rather than commenting on the content of the GDC – as he felt it wouldn’t be appropriate for the head of one of its main competitors, gamescom dev, to do so – he examined the GDC from the perspective of an event organiser. In doing so, he noted many positive and some less positive aspects. He had high praise for the numerous opportunities the GDC offers to junior and up-and-coming developers.
Reichart did, however, criticise the many events taking place outside the GDC venue. Whilst real business had finally taken place there again, this business was happening in the surroundings of the GDC and not ‘at’ the GDC itself. “Using GDC to hold your meetings in the surrounding hotels without buying a GDC ticket will inevitably destroy GDC and, of course, undermine the basis for your hotel meetings”, Reichart wrote. “Our events can only survive, if there is a fair gie and take between the organisers and the industry.”
GDC will be returning to San Francisco and the Moscone Center next year, Monday, March 1 to Friday, March 5, 2027. You can find these and other important dates in our gaming industry events calendar.
Stephan Steininger
