GDC 2025 Wraps up With Nearly 30,000 Attendees

Attendance at this year's GDC was about the same as last year. Organizers are pleased with the overall success of the event and the popularity of new additions such as the GDC Nights.

The Game Developers Conference 2025 has come to a close after hosting nearly 30,000 registered attendees over five full days. This year's attendance was roughly on par with last year's. The 2023 GDC saw nearly 28,000 attendees.

"Seeing the engrossing lectures, the collective labor organizing, and the amazing performances from Austin Wintory alongside the artists at GDC Nights has been an affirming experience and helps reinforce the value of GDC's mission to connect developers through their shared passion for game development," said Stephenie Hawkins, GDC Event Director. "The past few years have seen increasing challenges for game developers the world over, but we're proud to see GDC continue to serve as a beacon. We look forward to seeing our friends here again, and hope that the connections and insights they gained will carry through to their next amazing game projects."

GDC 2025 featured more than 1,000 speakers in 750 sessions, workshops, and panels, as well as plenty of networking opportunities. Many developers shared their insights into creating games such as Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Like a Dragon, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Split Fiction, Helldivers 2, Silent Hill 2, Monument Valley 3, Tekken 8, and many more. GDC also introduced the first annual GDC Nights after-hours event, which combined TV, movies, comedy, gaming, and other activities. Approximately 6,000 people attended the two GDC Nights. The 27th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards and the 25th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards were also presented.

Several announcements were made during GDC, including the formation of the first industry-wide union for video game workers in North America, the United Videogame Workers. Qualcomm unveiled its Pocket S2, a new Android-based handheld gaming device (powered by the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3), and Roblox announced the launch of its new open source model called Cube.

"To ensure an inclusive environment, all GDC attendees were required to abide by GDC's strict Code of Conduct, which was heavily promoted throughout Moscone. It states that GDC will not tolerate any unacceptable behaviors including intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct by any attendees of GDC and related events, and that these behaviors could result in expulsion from the event."

The 2026 Game Developers Conference will return to the Moscone Center from Monday, March 9 through Friday, March 13, 2026. The call for submissions for GDC 2026 will open in early July 2025.

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