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The 2017 Game Developers Conference is one week away, and today organizers are proud to highlight a great talk taking place at the show that digs into a bunch of intriguing issues in level design for contemporary games.

Arkane's own Steve Lee, a level designer on Dishonored 2, will be speaking on "An Approach to Holistic Level Design" as part of the GDC 2017 Level Design Workshop.

His talk is all about advocating a holistic approach to level design where LDs not only think about many aspects of the player's experience (primarily gameplay, presentation and story), but focus specifically on how all of these things work together. It will draw on the Lee's experience as an LD on games like Dishonored 2 and BioShock Infinite, and the design values of the immersive sim genre in general.

The folks organizing GDC 2017 are giving you an early look today at the scope and ambitions of the Advanced Graphics Techniques Tutorial Day that will help launch the conference later this month.

It's just one of the many Bootcamps and Tutorials that take place during the first two days of GDC (this year, that's Monday, February 27th and Tuesday, February 28th) and offer attendees the chance to dive deep and explore focused topics like level design, art direction and storytelling fundamentals.

Brought to you with the collaboration of the industry's leading hardware and software vendors, the day-long Advanced Graphics Techniques Tutorial provides an in-depth look at how DirectX technologies can be applied to creating cutting-edge PC game graphics.

To give you an idea of what we mean by that, here's an early look at just a sampling of the sessions and speakers that will comprise the Advanced Graphics Techniques Tutorial at GDC 2017, which kicks off at 10 AM on Monday, February 27th.

With less than two weeks to go until the 2017 Game Developers Conference kicks off, organizers are eager to let you know about some of the smart education-focused talks that will be taking place during the show.

Each of these talks is part of the GDC Education Summit, one of eight that will take place Monday, February 27th and Tuesday, February 28th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA during the first two days of the conference.

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 talks from experts around the industry!

The 2017 Game Developers Conference is a place for game makers to learn from experts around the game industry, and today organizers are proud to announce a great talk from one of the veterans of the competitive fighting game scene.

Tom Cannon, cofounder of Radiant Entertainment and, before that, the long-running Evolution Championship Series (EVO) fighting game tournament, is coming to GDC 2017 later this month to deliver an eSports Day talk on "Arcade to eSports: How Your Competitive Game Influences Player Culture and Values."

Cannon is intimately familiar with all sides of this subject, being both a key player in the competitive fighting game community and a game developer with experience working on competitive games. In his talk he'll examine how the format of the arcade influenced the competitive culture of fighting game players, and why this culture endures today.

With the Game Developers Conference just weeks away, we're excited to announce that indie video game showcase collective Wild Rumpus is returning for GDC 2017 to welcome attendees as friends and celebrated guests in their 'Mild Rumpus' game lounge.

For years now, the Mild Rumpus has established itself as a small oasis amid the hustle and bustle of an exciting conference. This year the oasis returns as a comfortable grotto where GDC 2017 attendees can take a quick break from their action-packed GDC week.

Grotto-goers will also have the chance to check out a fresh, hand-picked selection of independent games, and they may even have the opportunity to see a live talk or performance from one of the games' talented designers.

For more details on the Mild Rumpus interactive space at GDC 2017 and its list of games, check out the official website or stop by the space itself on the ground floor of the West Hall of San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center during GDC 2017.

Organizers of the 2017 Game Developers Conference have lined up a cornucopia of great talks for the show later this month, including a fantastic session about the dynamic design of Ubisoft's upcoming action game For Honor.

In a talk entitled "Modify Everything! Data-Driven Dynamic Gameplay Effects on 'For Honor'", Ubisoft's Aurélie Le Chevalier will detail how Ubisoft developed the Modifiers system, a data-driven system that allows designers to dynamically create gameplay effects.

This robust system is notable because it can handle anything from simply buffing/debuffing character stats (damage, speed, etc.) to affecting AI decision-making, launching areas of effects, and adding attack properties.

[As we get ready for the Game Developers Conference later this month, some of the writers at Gamasutra -- the official media partner of GDC -- got together to pick out some of the GDC 2017 talks they're most excited about.  Check it out and make sure you're not missing anything you'd love to see!]

Gamasutra is just as excited about Game Developers Conference 2017 as all of you are! We’ll have reporters on-site at GDC 2017 covering the show all week. We recently put our heads together and picked some of our most-anticipated GDC sessions (in no particular order), with topics ranging from designing sex scenes in games to math(s) to...a grouchy fish who lived on the Dreamcast.

Join us at the Moscone Center February 27-March 3 for GDC 2017 (and if you see us around, don’t be afraid to say “hi!”)