Live sessions are Fireside Chats, GDC Podcast episode recordings, Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions and Live Speaker Q&A sessions. Live session speakers are required to be on-camera for the live stream. Please see below for more information about your participation, as well as how to access your live session. You can reference the Speaker Lounge Home Page and Speaker Navigation Guide for instructions on how to check in the day of your broadcast and how to access your session.

If you have questions, please contact either [email protected] (for Core Concepts) or [email protected] (for Summits & VRDC).

Tech Check

To ensure your equipment is setup and ready for your live session, please conduct a 30-minute tech check with ETS the day before your scheduled session. Your live session’s schedule details and the portal to schedule a tech check will be emailed to you closer to the event.

Accessing Your Live Session

You will access your livestream through Zoom and the link will be sent to you before the event. 20-minutes before your session start time, open the zoom link to get setup for the livestream. An AV technician will be there waiting for you and count you down to showtime!

To better understand the workflow and procedures to expect when joining your livestream, please watch the Live Session Workflow & Process Video.

AV Requirements

Below are the minimum equipment requirements for your live stream. If you have any concerns about meeting these requirements, please contact [email protected] (for Summits & VRDC) or [email protected] (for Core Concepts) immediately to discuss AV solutions.

Computer with webcam and *microphone
6MB upload / 6MB download speed
Private or secluded space to record / film

*Microphone: the key to a successful session recording is using a high-quality microphone. If you don’t have access to an external microphone, please use a headset with microphone instead of the microphone built into your computer for best results. Check out more speaker tips and equipment best practices on the Online Speaker Lounge Homepage.

Moderation Guidelines

Before your session, we can establish moderation guidelines to help the session moderator/hosts guide the live conversation. Please send any topics that you would like to discuss as well as topics to avoid to [email protected]

Fireside Chats

Fireside chats are 30 or 60-minute dev interviews. The topics and questions covered during the interview are determined by the fireside speakers and arranged prior to the live stream.

The speakers are not required, but are welcome, to respond to incoming attendee messages/questions from the live chat stream on the session’s page in the event platform. If you are a fireside speaker and would like to address attendee messages/questions during the live stream, please be sure to discuss moderation guidelines with all on-camera participants.

All fireside chats will be available to watch on-demand on the GDC platform after the scheduled broadcast, and later added to GDC Vault. Please be sure to sign a Speaker Agreement (found on the Online Speaker Lounge homepage) prior to your live fireside chat!

GDC Podcast Episodes

The official podcast for Game Developers Conference brings you illuminating conversation and commentary from brilliant people in the video game industry. Hosted by Gamasutra editor-in-chief Kris Graft and news editor Alissa McAloon. GDC will be hosting LIVE 60-minute recordings of the GDC Podcast.

Guests should be prepared to have a fun, casual chat with editors from Gamasutra about their personal experiences making games and other related topics.

The format will be as follows:

~5 minutes of hosts Kris Graft and Alissa McAloon making witty intro banter.
30-40 minutes of the guest chatting with the hosts.
~10 minutes for a sponsored message.
A short outro that the guest can hang around for (or they can depart when the sponsor comes on).
Total run time for the live podcast: 60-minutes.

Other notes:

This will be a live, on-camera podcast.
Viewers will be able to interact in a moderated chat box and the hosts will convey interesting and fun questions to the guests on occasion during the broadcast.
The hosts will send you a rough outline of topics we’ll touch on.
Here is a sample of one of our shows at GDC Summer last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQllWnWrBro

For our pre-recorded monthly podcast check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/3IjaJ0YoZiVvgOK5xRlDQx

All shows will be available for free on the GDC YouTube after airing.

Ask Me Anything (AMA) Sessions

AMA sessions are 30 or 60-minute, livestreamed interview-style sessions with a guest and moderator. During the session, audience members can submit questions via text chat. The moderator will pick the most popular/interesting questions for the guest to answer.

Below are more details about how they work:

Both the guest and moderator are on-camera. The audience interacts with text only in a live chat stream located next to the session’s video.
Before the live AMA, the guest and GDC staff can establish guidelines for which questions the moderator should accept/ignore.
The guest doesn’t need to pay attention to incoming questions - they should ignore them. The moderator will select and ask the questions for the audience on-camera.

All AMAs will be available to watch on-demand on the GDC platform after its scheduled broadcast, and later added to GDC Vault. Please be sure to sign a Speaker Agreement (found on the Online Speaker Lounge homepage) prior to your live AMA!

Here is a sample of one of our AMA's at GDC Summer last year: https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1026776/Ask-Me-Anything-Diverse

Live Speaker Q&As (Zoom)

This live Q&A opportunity is hosted in Zoom and separate from the Q&A via text-chat during the broadcast of your session (though you can tie in questions from chat if you want!). The live session is an additional opportunity for the audience to ask questions and interact with you after your presentation. If you’ve attended an in-person GDC, you can think of these as an alternative to the on-site “speaker wrap-up rooms” where speakers can continue the discussion with their audience.

Below are general notes about the Q&A session. Contact your GDC content contact listed below to hear program-specific details:

The live Q&A session will be listed on Session Viewer and the event platform. The listing will be separate from your lecture or panel listing.
A Conference Associate (CA) will be present for gatekeeping and Code of Conduct support.
If you prefer to answer questions LIVE and not in the chat box during the broadcast of your lecture or panel, feel free to let the audience know in chat and direct them to the Q&A session to get their questions answered.
Tech Checks are not required for the live Q&A session speakers.

Contact [email protected] for Core Concepts and [email protected] for Summits & VRDC.

Speaker Lounge - Live Sessions