GDC 2024 will take place March 18-22 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, CA.

1) The 26th Annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) Finalists

The IGF, the longest running festival, summit and showcase celebrating independent games and their creators, has revealed this year’s finalists.

Leading the nominations is Venba from Visai Games with four nominations, including Excellence in Audio, Narrative, Visual Art and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Venba is a narrative cooking game in which players experience life as an Indian mom who has immigrated to Canada with her family in the 1980s and weaves together conversations and food to tell her family’s stories of love, loss and more.

Five other finalist titles share the distinction of having three nominations apiece and those titles include 1000xRESIST by sunset visitor 斜阳过客, A Highland Song by inkle, Anthology of the Killer by Thecatamites, Tommy Tone and A. Degen, COCOON by Geometric Interactive and Mediterranea Inferno by Lorenzo Redaelli and EYEGUYS. These finalists are also all nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize alongside Venba.

For more information on the 2024 Independent Games Festival, including the full list of finalists, please visit the official Independent Games Festival website. ​The winners will be revealed at the IGF Awards ceremony on March 20 at GDC.

2) The 24th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) Finalists

The finalists for the 24th Annual Game Developers Choice awards, the leading peer-based video game event celebrating the industry’s top games and developers, have been revealed.

The GDCA nominations are led by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by Nintendo and Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios, which each received a total of seven nominations including Game of the Year, followed by COCOON by Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive, which received five total nominations including Game of the Year. The other titles in the Game of the Year category include Dave the Diver by Mintrocket, Dredge by Black Salt Games / Team17 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment.

For more information on the 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards, including the full list of finalists, please visit the official Game Developer Choice Awards website. The winners will be revealed at the Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC and will be live-streamed alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards on the official GDC Twitch channel.

3) GDC’s 12th Annual State of the Game Industry Survey Results

GDC released the results of its 12h annual State of the Game Industry Survey on Thursday, January 18, providing insights and data on hot button topics including layoffs, generative AI, the rise in film and TV adaptations, preferred game engines, accessibility, return-to-office policies and more.

The responses from over 3,000 game industry professionals reflect findings including:

• One-third of developers have been impacted by layoffs and over half (56%) are concerned there could be more in the next 12 months, while one-third said they weren’t at all concerned.
• Unreal Engine and Unity are the most used game engines, with 33% of developers each classifying them as their main toolset of choice.
• One-third of respondents said they’ve either considered switching game engines within the past year, or they’ve already done so, while almost half said they haven’t considered switching.
• Four out of five developers are worried about the ethical use of Generative AI, while only 12% stated they had no concerns.
• Over half (51%) of developers said their companies have instituted some sort of policy regarding the use of Generative AI in the workplace.
• Nearly half of developers say their companies implement accessibility measures in their games (up from 38% in 2023), while 27% said their companies have not implemented any of those features (down from 32% in 2023). The most popular accessibility features being added were industry standards like closed captioning, colorblind mode and control remapping.
• One-fourth (26%) of developers said they have some form of mandatory return-to-office (RTO) policy at their company, either working full-time in the office or on a hybrid schedule, while the rest (74%) either don’t have an RTO policy or say the policies they do have made in-office work optional.

The full survey, which includes more insight into the game development community’s thoughts on these topics and a multitude of other facts and details, can be downloaded for free.

4) GDC Safety and Accessibility Measures

Safety is GDC’s number one priority for all attendees and the learning and networking can only continue if attendees feel and are safe. To that end, GDC is introducing and expanding upon a slew of safety initiatives to help create a safe environment, including:

• Publishing and publicizing guidelines and safety standards for navigating the conference, the city, and after-hour/satellite events safely
• 24-hour GDC Safety phone line to contact for any issues faced by attendees
• Convention center phones throughout Moscone buildings for reporting emergencies with quick dial access
• Bolstered security presence onsite and escorts provided upon request/as needed
• Partnership with surrounding venues, local hotels, SF Travel, and the City of San Francisco to ensure a safe environment for all attendees
• Expanded training of CAs (Conference Associates) to flag and deal with harassment and other serious issues
• A new walking tour system to allow attendees easily coordinate and assemble to travel in small groups from hotels to the convention center
• Coat Check and Bike Valet to prevent item theft
• Working with SF’s Safety Welcome Ambassadors in their signature bright orange jackets, with the words “Welcome Ambassador” written on the back. These ambassadors can help with directions, transit questions, and safety concerns and they will be located near the Moscone Center.
• Monthly networking sessions for GDC attendees in Gather so they have a safety network before the event

In addition, GDC organizers are committed to making the conference accessible to and inclusive of every member of the game development community with the help of 900+ scholarships, monetary support for indie devs, a low-income pass lottery and an equal opportunity attendance program, as well as babysitting services, an ADA accessible kiosk at the IGF Pavilion, accessible controllers at Alt.Ctrl.GDC and Arcade Play, reserved seats for those with visual or auditory impairments, pronoun ribbons, bike valets and bike rentals on-site.

5) Learn How to Navigate the Event at GDC 101

In a week featuring hundreds of talks and a thousand speakers, it can be a challenge for a first-time attendee, or anyone after a break from live events, to understand how best to get the most out of GDC. For that reason, GDC organizers will present GDC 101 on Tuesday, March 19 for a crash course on how to navigate the full week of events. Help your audience prepare for GDC by encouraging them to attend this course and learn how to plan their time at GDC and receive an overview of the week and details to help get around the conference. After the presentation, folks can stick around for informal networking to make a friend or two and stay in touch through the week.

6) Have you pre-registered for your GDC 2024 media badge yet?

Confirming you should have already received your press invitation for GDC 2024 via email, but if you have trouble locating it, please notify the GDC Press Team and we’ll be happy to help you register.

Source:GDC