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Stay up to date on everything happening with the Game Developers Conference, the Independent Games Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and more through our online blog. To get GDC updates sent straight to your mailbox, subscribe to our GDC Newsletter.

Learn to better understand your players' social values at GDC 2018

February 23, 2018

Everyone who attends the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month will have access to a fantastic array of talks about the art and business of making games, including a particularly relevant one from League of Legends dev Riot Games on how to better understand your players' values.

This is more important now than ever because game developers need to be thinking globally when they consider their players, all of whom will have different backgrounds and different social values.

In their Advocacy track talk on "Understanding the Social Values of Your Players" Riot Games' Tash Elliott and Jeffrey Burrell will discuss the extensive research Riot has done to understand the underlying social values their players have across the world, lessons learned, and how they applied that information to create meaningful social impact campaigns and long term value for players.

GDC 2018's Session Scheduler is live -- use it to make the most of your trip!

February 22, 2018

With the Game Developers Conference roughly a month away, now is the time for attendees to start planning out what they're going to see and do to get the most out of their time at the event.

Conference organizers encourage you to take advantage of the free GDC 2018 Session Scheduler to lay out our week at the show in an intuitive, easy-to-navigate fashion.

(And if for some reason you're not signed up to attend GDC, don't worry -- there's still time to register for a pass!)

If you've never used the Session Scheduler before, rest easy: it's pretty easy to get started. Simply select "Create Account" from the Session Scheduler page and provide a valid email address, then start adding talks to your personal GDC 2018 schedule.

Here's the lineup of games you'll play when Day of the Devs comes to GDC 2018

February 22, 2018

As the Game Developers Conference draws nigh, organizers are excited to give you an early look at the games you'll play in the Day of the Devs showcase during GDC 2018 next month!

As in years past, a veritable smorgasbord of games from some of the industry's most interesting and talented creators will be playable at Day of the Devs: GDC Edition, a cozy showcase conveniently located inside San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center.

Those attending GDC (which runs from March 19th through the 23rd this year) are encouraged to drop by, play some games and perhaps chat with their creators amid the hustle and bustle of the conference.

Attend GDC for a behind-the-scenes look at texturing Pixar's CocoVR

February 22, 2018

Heads up, VR devs: If you're coming to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month you won't want to miss a great talk from the folks at Magnopus about the rendering of Pixar's VR experience Coco VR.

As part of VRDC @ GDC, the "'CocoVR': Engineering a Cinematic Experience, Spherical Multi-Projection" session will see Magnopus' Luke Schloemer and Xavier Gonzalez discussing how the team at Magnopus (a visual development and experience company) used textures created by Pixar's rendering pipeline so they could texture the static geometry with lighting equivalent to what they have in their films.

It will also explore the custom tools and algorithms implemented, as well as the challenges encountered, in order to show you an alternative technique for texturing static geometry when no texture coordinates are available, or when it is impractical to do so with a small team size

Developer Day Spotlight: Autodesk's TJ Galda preps attendees for hands-on training at GDC

February 21, 2018

At GDC 2018, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with an array of sponsors who help fuel the games industry, including our Developer Day sponsors, whose select line of talks help game developers better learn how to use their tools.

Today, we've reached out to our friends at Autodesk, who are presenting a series of sponsored talks centered around their game developer tools to help game-makers make better games, faster. To get attendees ready for what they can expect in these talks, we've asked senior product line manager for entertainment products TJ Galda to answer a few questions about Autodesk's GDC presence!

Don't miss out! The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next March will be a hub for many more great industry titans. For more visit the show’s official website.

Attend the Audio Bootcamp at GDC 2018 and learn from game audio wizards

February 21, 2018

Today GDC 2018 organizers are offering an early look at the interesting, informative sessions taking place during the Audio Bootcamp that helps open the conference next month.

Of course, the Audio Bootcamp is just one of many Bootcamps and Tutorials that take place during the first two days of GDC (Monday and Tuesday, March 19th and 20th this year) and offer attendees the chance to dive deep and explore focused topics like level design, game production, art direction and animation.

This year the Audio Bootcamp takes place Tuesday, March 20th, its 17th anniversary at GDC. Make time to attend the bootcamp to see expert talks focused on the technical, creative and logistical topics needed to successfully navigate the field of sound for games.

Nvidia, Unity, Microsoft and more sponsor innovative talks at GDC

February 21, 2018

We're a month away from the 2018 Game Developers Conference, and organizers want to ensure you don't miss the variety of cutting-edge sponsored sessions from Microsoft, Nvidia, Unity, and more.

You'll want to bookmark these talks if you're looking for first-hand insight into how the latest hardware and software works -- and how you can use it to make great games.

Nvidia, for example, is sponsoring a plethora of fascinating talks, including "Deep Learning for Game Developers", in which Nvidia's Bryan Catanzaro will discuss research on some of the most interesting new ways to apply deep learning to problems such as content creation, graphics, text, and speech. This talk will give you a sense of the current capabilities of deep learning, as well as where the field is headed!

Get useful game dev insight from Google, Facebook, and more at GDC 2018

February 20, 2018

Heads up, game makers: Game Developers Conference organizers would like to quickly let you know about some of the great day-long sponsored developer days taking place at GDC 2018 next month!

These developer day sessions take place during the first two days of GDC (Monday and Tuesday, March 19th and 20th) and offer cutting-edge insight and learnings from some of the top players in the industry.

For example, Google is back once again this year to host a full day of fresh insight, announcements and discussions. Make time to check out Google's dev day talks and you'll learn about new product announcements, as well as tools and opportunities for game developers to build high quality, engaging experiences for a growing global audience.

Developer Day Spotlight: Nathan Martz gets devs ready to make games with Google

February 20, 2018

At GDC 2018, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with an array of sponsors who help fuel the games industry, including our Developer Day sponsors, whose select line of talks help game developers better learn how to use their tools.

To get you ready for Google's announcement-filled extravaganza, we've reached out to lead product manager Nathan Martz, who's working to help game developers make great experiences in VR and AR on Android devices. Check out what he has to say in the Q&A below!

Don't miss out! The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next March will be a hub for many more great industry titans. For more visit the show’s official website.

Level up your game dev teaching skills at the GDC Educators Summit

February 20, 2018

Given that we're about a month out from this year's Game Developers Conference, organizers are eager to ensure you don't look past all the great education-focused talks taking place at the show!

Each of the talks we're highlighting today is part of the GDC Educators Summit, one of eight that will take place Monday, March 19th and Tuesday, March 20th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA during the first two days of the conference.g

Each Summit offers a comprehensive overview of a specific game industry discipline, and this year the GDC Education Summit has a strong lineup that features speakers like Carnegie Mellon's Jessica Hammer and Broken Rules' Martin Pichlmair explaining how you can more effectively critique games and game projects.

Their talk "Improving Critique of Game Projects with Expert and Peer Feedback" presents best practices, common challenges, and successful formats around providing critique. In addition to providing material on expert-led critique, Jessica Hammer and Martin Pichlmair will share two experimental approaches for improving peer feedback on game projects.

Capcom will present a postmortem of Monster Hunter World at GDC 2018!

February 20, 2018

As you prepare to venture out to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month, make sure you don't overlook the promising presentation from Capcom that will dive deep into one of the biggest games of the year.

In "'Monster Hunter World' Postmortem: Designing Game Concept Through Developing Prototype" Yuya Takuda, a longtime Capcom game dev who served as director on Monster Hunter World, will spend an hour speaking in rare detail about how the remarkable game was designed and developed.

Alongside Capcom's Peter Fabiano, Takuda will also explore how Monster Hunter World was crafted as something of a "reboot" for the venerable Monster Hunter series, share images and video of early prototypes, and offer lessons learned from the process of successfully bringing the project to fruition.

GDC 2018 is proud to once again donate passes to the Indie Giving Charity!

February 19, 2018

It's that time again: with the 2018 Game Developers Conference just a month away, organizers are proud to announce that for the sixth year running, 30 GDC Indie Games Summit tickets will be donated to the 2018 Indie Giving initiative in partnership with the fantastic Indie Giving charity.

The goal of this enduring partnership with Indie Giving, which continues to be overseen by FGL chief and indie community veteran Chris Hughes, is to give back to people in need -- and give indie game makers who are generous with their time an opportunity to attend GDC at an affordable rate.

GDC officials have reserved 30 of the sold-out Indie Games Summit passes for purchase through the Indie Giving package program. To purchase these $349 packages, you must agree to give back to the local community by volunteering to participate in an onsite project before GDC 2018.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' creator speaks about his path to game dev at GDC 2018!

February 19, 2018

How did Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene navigate the road from amateur game modder to creative director of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, one of the biggest games in years?

Find out at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month, where Greene will be presenting an extensive Design track talk on the subject titled "'PLAYERUNKNOWN': From Mod Creator to Creative Director of PUBG."

It promises to be a talk packed with useful learnings, as Greene intends to trace his history in games, mod making, and the path he took to become creative director at Bluehole Inc. From humble beginnings making a mod for the Arma series, to the huge success of his game-mode in H1Z1, he'll explore what it took to create a new genre in gaming.

Speaker Q&A: Kurt Loudy and Jake Campbell break down the combat philosophy of DOOM

February 16, 2018

When id Software resurrected the demon-slaying shooter DOOM in 2016, it did so by reinventing the standards of first-person shooter combat, encouraging players to constantly engage with their monstrous foes and never disengage until the last monster falls.

If you were enthralled by that combat system, then you might want to check out this upcoming session at the 2018 Game Developers Conference from id Softwares' Kurt Loudy and Jake Campbell, the senior systems designer and AI programmer who led the charge on DOOM's combat. To give you a sneak peak of their talk, we reached out to Campbell and Loudy to discuss their work on DOOM and their experiences in the game industry.

Don't miss out! The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next March is going to be full of interesting and informative sessions like Loudy & Campbell's. For more visit the show’s official website.

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