Festival Updates
What’s New at GDC Festival of Gaming 2027
Built on what we heard from you. Every year, GDC gives us a chance to listen—to what worked, what didn’t, and what the game industry needs from its week in San Francisco.
For 2027, we’re evolving what we talk about and how you experience the Festival. Our program focuses on the opportunities shaping the industry now: building resilient studios and finding new paths to funding, to working smarter, earning player attention, advancing the craft, and finding growth in an increasingly global games market.
Across the Festival, we’re making it easier to participate in the ways that matter most. More flexible ways to attend, a new home for business and meetings. Updates shaped by how our community uses GDC.
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What’s changing for GDC 2027?
- Introducing a new Business Hall at Moscone West, built specifically for meetings, networking, partnerships, pitches, and getting business done.
- Adding three more focused ways to attend: Business Hall Only, Festival Hall Only, and 1-Day Career. Also, you can combine our limited-access passes to build the week that fits your goals.
- Making Festival Pass the complete core GDC experience, including full access to Program sessions, Festival Hall, GDC Nights, and Business Hall.
- Opening the Festival Hall Tuesday through Thursday (previously Wednesday through Friday).
- Bringing GDC Nights together Monday through Wednesday, with three nights dedicated to celebrating games and the people who make them happen.
- Evolving the GDC Summit program to give the community a greater voice in shaping the talks that make the program.
- Creating a more focused Friday career experience, including the GDC Career Faire and career-focused sessions.
- Making several pass and pricing changes designed to provide more accessible ways into GDC.
And we’re not done. We’ll continue updating this page as more of the GDC Festival of Gaming 2027 experience is confirmed.
What themes will shape GDC 2027?
The game industry is changing quickly, and the GDC 2027 program focuses on the challenges, opportunities, and ideas shaping what comes next. Across the week, expect conversations around:
- Building Resilient Careers & Studios: How teams are adapting to industry change without compromising their craft
- Funding the Future: New investment models, publishing strategies, and pathways to get games made.
- Creating More with Smarter Tools & Workflows: Leveraging AI, production strategies, and modern workflows to do more with less
- Growing Communities in a Competitive Landscape: Strategies for player discovery, retention, and live-service success in a crowded market
- Craft That Connects: Across UGC, indie, and AAA experiences, design, storytelling, and creativity drive unforgettable player experiences
- The Global Game: How worldwide expansion, international collaboration, and new audiences are reshaping games
What is the new GDC Business Hall?
Every year, thousands of meetings happen during GDC week—across hotel lobbies, coffee shops, rented suites, restaurants, and venues throughout San Francisco.
For 2027, we’re creating a dedicated home for those conversations at Moscone West.
Open Monday through Friday, the Business Hall is designed around how business gets done at GDC: places to meet informally, spaces you can reserve for focused conversations, business-focused programming, and a concentrated community of developers, studios, publishers, platforms, investors, service providers, and industry leaders.
Spend less time crossing the city and more time with the people you came to meet.
How do Business Hall guest passes work?
Business Hall guest passes make it easier to meet with people who are in San Francisco during GDC week but don’t have their own eligible pass.
Guest meeting access is available with select passes. Guest passes are specifically for meetings within the Business Hall and do not provide general admission to the wider GDC experience.
We’ll share additional details about how guest registration, meeting access, and check-in work ahead of the event.
What new pass options are available?
We’re introducing three new focused-access passes and a dedicated Indie Pass designed specifically for independent developers.
Indie Pass
A Festival experience built for the indie community. For 2027, Indie and Start-Up are separate pass types, so established independent studios are no longer subject to the early-stage company requirements that previously applied. Eligibility requirements still apply.
Business Hall Only
Your home base for meetings during GDC week. Access the Business Hall Monday through Friday, including reservable meeting spaces (subject to availability) and up to two Business Hall guest meeting passes per day.
Festival Hall Only
The Festival floor experience, on your schedule. Explore the Festival Hall Tuesday through Thursday, including sessions and talks taking place on the Festival floor, plus admission to the GDC Awards on Tuesday and Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday.
1-Day Career
One focused day to move your career forward. Join us Friday for the GDC Career Faire, career-focused sessions, and access to the Business Hall lobby.
Can I combine passes?
Yes, that’s another new option for 2027. Our three limited-access passes—Business Hall Only, Festival Hall Only, and 1-Day Career—can be combined.
For example, you could purchase Business Hall Only for your meetings during the week and add Festival Hall Only if you also want to explore the Festival floor.
Or you could combine Festival Hall Only with 1-Day Career if you want several days of discovery followed by a career-focused Friday.
The idea is simple: build the GDC week you need.
Has GDC pricing changed?
Yes. Alongside introducing more focused pass options, we’ve revisited pricing across several passes to create more accessible ways to participate in GDC.
That includes reduced pricing for eligible Indie, Start-Up, and Academic attendees, adjustments to Game Changer pricing, and lower pricing for the Festival Pass.
We’ve also made an important change for the indie community. In 2026, independent developers and start-ups shared a single Early Stage Indie & Start-Up Pass, which meant the eligibility requirements did not always reflect the realities of established independent studios. For 2027, Indie and Start-Up are now separate passes with their own eligibility requirements.
GDC’s pass structure now better reflects the different people and companies that make up the game industry—and gives more of them a realistic way to be part of the week.
What’s changing with the Festival Hall?
The Festival Hall will now be open Tuesday through Thursday (previously Wednesday through Friday).
It remains GDC’s central place for discovery: companies, technology, tools, games, demos, activations, community spaces, and stages featuring talks you can drop into throughout the day.
The new schedule also means attendees interested primarily in the Festival Hall can now choose the new Festival Hall Only Pass.
What’s new with GDC Nights?
For 2027, GDC Nights runs Monday through Wednesday, bringing the industry together for three official nights of celebration:
Monday — Developer’s Concert: Celebrate the music and soundtracks that bring games to life.
Tuesday — GDC Awards: Celebrate the games and people pushing the industry forward.
Wednesday — Independent Games Festival Awards: Celebrate the creativity and innovation of independent games and their developers.
Specific venue, timing, and programming details will be announced as we get closer to GDC.
What’s changing with GDC Summits?
GDC Summits remain focused gatherings built around specific disciplines and communities: one discipline, one room.
For 2027, Summits are more community-driven. The GDC community now has a greater voice in determining which talks make the Program.
It’s another way we’re making sure the conversations happening at GDC reflect what the industry wants and needs to talk about right now.
Will there still be sessions in Moscone West now that it’s home to the Business Hall?
Yes. Moscone West will still host programming alongside the new Business Hall experience.
Access to individual sessions and programming will depend on your pass type, so check the GDC pass comparison for the latest access information.
What is the GDC Career Faire?
Friday at GDC is getting a stronger career focus. The GDC Career Faire brings job seekers, students, career changers, seasoned professionals, employers, and recruiters together for a day of discovery, connection, and opportunity—all part of the Festival experience.
Alongside the Career Faire, Friday will feature career-focused sessions designed to provide practical guidance, industry perspective, and opportunities to make valuable connections.
The new 1-Day Career Pass provides a more accessible way to participate specifically in that part of GDC.
More details about participating employers at the Career Faire and career programming will be announced closer to the event.
We’d Love to Hear Your Feedback!
This page will be updated with new confirmations, clarifications, and community-related questions. If you have any questions you’d like to see answered here, drop us a note.
