FAQ

GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 takes place March 1-5, 2027.

GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 is held at the Moscone Center - 747 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103.

GDC is for anyone who helps create, grow, or shape games. Whether you’re starting your career or leading a studio, you’ll find opportunities to learn, connect, and discover what’s next alongside the global games community.

Attendees include developers, programmers, designers, artists, producers, publishers, marketers, audio professionals, QA specialists, business leaders, investors, service providers, educators, students, and more.

Head over to the Passes & Pricing to grab your pass!

Super Early Rate ends on Friday, October 9, at 11:59pm PT.

Registration for GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 is now open!

GDC group registration discounts apply to 10 or more Game Changer or Festival pass registrations. The group discount cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions, including the alumni rate. For more information, see our Passes & Prices

Yes, for 2027 GDC is offering a 1-day Career pass that gives you entry to the event on Friday, March 5, where you can access our Business Hall Lobby, Career Faire, and career-focused sessions. For more information, see our Career Day page.

GDC Festival of Gaming collaborates with select organizations to empower and uplift game developers from marginalized communities, offering them opportunities to attend the event and a platform to showcase their work. Visit the Scholarship Partners page for the complete list of scholarships and the Get Involved page for other assistance opportunities.

Please also reference our Promotional Terms and Conditions for any ongoing promotions.

Becoming Part of the Festival Crew is a fantastic way to experience GDC and meet other developers in the industry. Head to our Get Involved page for more information.

To upgrade an existing pass, simply log into your registration to make the change. You can also reach out to our Registration team at GDC Registration for assistance.

No, passes cannot be transferred to another individual. To cancel your pass, please email gdcregistration@informa.com.

To cancel, change, or upgrade, please email gdcregistration@informa.com.

Requests for registration, cancellations, substitutions, upgrades and downgrades must be received on or before February 5, 2027. Cancellations and downgrades will incur a $250.00 cancellation fee for passes. A downgrade is considered a change from a Game Changer to a Festival/Indie/Start-Up/Academic/Festival Hall Only/Business Hall Only/1-Day Career or GDC Vault purchase or a Festival to a Festival Hall Only/Business Hall Only/1-Day Career or GDC Vault purchase. A $75.00 cancellation fee will apply to cancellation requests for Festival Hall Only/Business Hall Only or 1-Day Career passes. Refunds are not available after this date for downgrades or cancellations and are not available for no-shows, the cancellation fee is nonrefundable.

Credit card issuers may impose a fee for credit card charges issued to international registrants. Please contact your card issuer if you have further questions about their fee schedule.

Yes, you can purchase or upgrade your pass onsite. If you upgrade your pass, you will need to pay the difference of what the onsite price is.

Most applications are reviewed within three business days. Once your application has been reviewed, you’ll receive an email with the decision. If you haven’t heard back from us after three business days, please contact our registration team at gdcregistration@informa.com.

Below is a reference of benefits for all pass types. Please visit our Passes & Prices page to grab your pass.

Game Changer:

The premium GDC experience.

• Everything included with the Festival Pass
• Dedicated Game Changer Lounge with light food and beverage
• Daily lunch and reserved premium seating
• One-year GDC Vault subscription

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Festival:

The complete GDC experience.

• Access to the full GDC Program sessions and talks
• Festival Hall, GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)
• Business Hall access with guest meeting passes and reservable meeting spaces (subject to availability)

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Indie Pass and Start-up Pass:

Festival Pass at a more accessible price.

• Access to the full GDC Program sessions and talks
• Festival Hall, GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)
• Business Hall access with guest meeting passes and reservable meeting spaces (subject to availability)
• Application and eligibility requirements apply

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Academic:

Festival Pass at a more accessible price.

• Access to the full GDC Program sessions and talks
• Festival Hall, GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)
• Business Hall access with reservable meeting spaces (subject to availability)
• No Business Hall guest meeting passes
• Application and eligibility requirements apply

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Festival Hall ONLY:

The Festival floor experience, on your schedule.

• Festival Hall, including all sessions and talks on the Festival floor, Tuesday through Thursday
• GDC Awards on Tuesday and IGF Awards on Wednesday
• No Business Hall, main GDC Program, meeting spaces, or Developer’s Concert

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Business Hall ONLY:

Your home base for meetings during GDC week.

• Business Hall access Monday through Friday
• Reservable meeting spaces (subject to availability)
• Limited guest meeting passes (2 per day)
• No Festival Hall or GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)

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1-Day Career:

Friday only. One focused day to move your career forward.

• Career Faire and career-focused sessions
• Friday access to the Business Hall lobby
• No Festival Hall, main GDC Program, meeting spaces, or GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)

Festival Pass gives you…

• Access to ALL program sessions
• Access to the Festival Hall
• Access to Friday Career Faire & Career-Focused Sessions
• Entry to GDC Nights (Developer’s Concert, GDCA Awards, and IGF Awards)
• Limited inventory of bookable meeting pods (located within West Hall)
• One-year subscription to GDC Vault (post-event)

Festival Hall Only Pass gives you…

• Access to the Festival Hall and Festival Hall Sessions (Tues.-Thurs.)
• Entry to GDC Nights (GDC Awards, and IGF Awards)

VIP, Game Changer, Business, Business Hall Only, Festival, Indie, Start-up, and Academic.

Indie Pass

For independent studios and self-employed game professionals of any age. Whether you’ve been operating for one year or twenty, you may qualify as long as you remain independently operated and meet the size requirements.

To qualify, you must:

• Work within the game-making ecosystem
• Have fewer than 50 full-time employees
• Be independently operated and not owned or controlled by a larger operating company
• Not operate as an agency, consultancy, law firm, venture capital firm, or accelerator

Outside funding does not affect eligibility as long as your business remains independently operated.

The Indie Pass does not qualify for group pricing or count toward group purchase minimums.

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Start-Up Pass

For early-stage companies building within the game-making ecosystem. Outside funding is welcome; eligibility is based primarily on when your company was established and its size.

To qualify, you must:

• Work within the game-making ecosystem
• Have been founded or established after January 1, 2022
• Have fewer than 50 full-time employees
• Not operate as an agency, consultancy, law firm, venture capital firm, accelerator, or other investment business

The Start-Up Pass does not qualify for group pricing or count toward group purchase minimums.

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Academic Pass

For full-time students, faculty, and staff at accredited educational institutions.

To qualify, you must:

• Be enrolled or employed full-time at an accredited educational institution
• Verify your status using an institutional email address or proof of enrollment or employment

The Academic Pass does not qualify for group pricing or count toward group purchase minimums.

Only Game Changer passes.

Yes, you can. During your registration process you can add it to your cart, or after you register you can log back into your account and pay for the add-on. GDC Vault subscription is also available post-event as well. For more information, see here.

Yes. Business Hall Only, Festival Hall Only, and the 1-Day Career Pass can be combined so you can build the GDC experience that fits your week.

For example, you can combine Business Hall Only + Festival Hall Only if you want dedicated meeting time alongside access to the Festival Hall. Or add the 1-Day Career Pass if you also want access to Friday’s career-focused programming.

Each pass is purchased separately.

Not sure which pass, or combination of passes, is right for you? Contact the GDC Registration Team and we’ll help you find the best option.

You can request an invitation letter to accompany your visa application to attend GDC during the registration process. Your registration must be paid in full before your letter of invitation can be issued.

Please note that requesting a visa invitation letter does not guarantee that your local authorities will grant a visa to attend the event. Additionally, you are responsible for submitting your visa application to your local embassy/consulate; conference management will not submit it on your behalf. All requests are subject to review and approval.

GDC and onPeak have secured discount rates on hotels near the event attendees. Hotel blocks will open for GDC 2027 soon. Please visit our Plan Your Trip page for more details.

If you are contacted by companies aside from onPeak offering to make hotel reservations for you, we urge you not to book with them because they are not affiliated with GDC and therefore are not authorized to make reservations on GDC’s behalf.

For more information about booking a hotel, please contact GDC@onpeaksupport.com

The Moscone Center does not have on-site parking, but here’s a list of parking options around Moscone.

Several GDC partner hotels are within walking distance of the Moscone Center, and there are many excellent public transportation options for those staying farther away.

BART offers fast, convenient regional service, with two stations – Powell St Station, and Montgomery Street station – located only two blocks walk to The Moscone Center.

MUNI Metro provides light rail service throughout the City. To reach The Moscone Center, take MUNI Metro to the Yerba Buena/Moscone Station - located across the street from the venue.

Caltrain offers a frequent schedule into the nearby station at 4th & Townsend Streets, within a few minutes' walk of The Moscone Center.

Ferries offer transport between San Francisco and cities located across the San Francisco Bay's waters. The San Francisco Bay Ferry provides weekday, weekend, holiday, and seasonal services to nine terminal locations around the Bay including Alameda, Oakland, and Vallejo. From San Francisco's Ferry Terminal riders can connect to surface and subway options taking them to Moscone Center.

San Francisco maintains a large network of bicycle lanes throughout the city. If you're biking to the facility please be sure to review the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition website for maps and other information.

For more information on public transit, click here.

The Call for Submissions for GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 closed on August 7, 2026. If you would like to inquire about a sponsored session, please reach out to our sales team here.

If you’d like to know when future Call for Submissions go live, join our Call for Submissions mailing list!

Please complete this request form and one of our team members will contact you directly with more information.

Our Community Partner Program is accepting applications until Friday, September 18. Please fill out this form to be considered. For more information, click here.

Our Affiliate Partner Program application is coming, please stay tuned for more information on next steps. In the meantime, to get you started, please check out our Affiliate Partner Program webpage to see what was done for 2026.

The Festival Crew application is coming. Please stay tuned for more information when it goes live. If you’d like to get updated on all things GDC, sign up here.

Date and times for GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 program will be available during the month of December.

The event app will go live in the month of January 2027.

The GDC Code of Conduct outlines expectations for participant behavior and consequences for unacceptable behavior. We are committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, or religion. Please read the Code of Conduct before joining us at GDC Festival of Gaming 2027.

Our top goal is to make sure all of our attendees feel safe. We’ve partnered with local authorities and city organizations to ensure a secure and pleasant experience for everyone at our event. Our Health & Safety page has everything you need to know, including travel options and how to access round-the-clock support during the event.

• When you leave Moscone, remove your attendee badge and put it away.
• Always be aware of your surroundings and what is happening around you, especially in crowded situations. Staged distractions are a favorite ploy of pickpockets.
• Carry your wallet in the inside front pocket of your pants or your jacket. Shoulder bags or other handbags should be carried under your arm, not by the handle. While attending GDC sessions, or going out to eat or socialize, keep your bag in your lap.
• Keep your eyes up, your ears open, and your phone put away on city streets and on public transportation. This will lower the chance of theft and keep you safe on San Francisco’s busy streets.

More tips and initiatives from GDC Festival of Gaming can be found on our Health & Safety page.

Badges can be picked up our main registration desk in South Hall, Street Level. Enter at Howard Street.

If you require special assistance, auxiliary aids, interpreters or other reasonable accommodations while at the conference and/or expo please get in touch with GDC Event Operations at GDCEventOperations@informa.com. Please also see more detailed accessibility information here.

Moscone Center does not have onsite accessible parking. Head here for more information on parking around Moscone or alternative forms of accessible transportation.

Moscone Center welcomes service animals to accompany people with disabilities in all areas of the facility where the public is normally permitted access. 

For those requiring extra assistance or space to register or collect their badge onsite, GDC has an ADA dedicated registration area which will be clearly signposted upon arrival at South Hall, Moscone Center. Please contact GDC Event Operations at GDCEventOperations@informa.com if you have any questions.

As much as we love our GDC Kids, GDC does not allow anyone under the age of 18 (including infants in strollers) to attend the conference, unless they're part of our supervised Student Day event. However, GDC has partnered with KiddieCorp to provide on-site childcare services for our attendees and exhibitors at no cost for children 3 months through 12 years old.

Information on how you can sign up for their services will come closer to when the event goes live.

Two (2) Mamava nursing pods will be located on the Moscone South Lower Mezzanine next to Room 50. One of the pods is ADA-accessible. We also have (1) Mamava nursing pod on Level 2 of Moscone West by Room 2024.

Download the Mamava app to book an appointment, and you will receive an access code to open the pods.

There isn’t a refrigerator inside the pods to store milk, but we’re happy to store milk for caregivers in the Show Office fridge (Room South 105).

We have a quiet room for our attendees available during conference hours, Monday through Friday.

Attendees can access a quiet multi-faith and meditation room onsite during conference hours, Monday through Friday.

Yes, many sessions are recorded and published on our online content library, GDC Vault, following the event. Depending on the session, access may require a GDC Vault subscription.

You can record the first five minutes of a GDC session, but anything beyond that is not allowed. All GDC attendees, including exhibitors, press, and passholders must follow our GDC filming guidelines.

Sessions are first come, first served. When our GDC event app is available, we highly encourage our attendees to begin building their schedule, so they don’t miss out on their most highly anticipated talks.

Every session has ADA seating, first come first serve. Upon arriving at your session, see our Festival Crew member who can assist you to your designated seat.

No, single session passes are not available.