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GDC 2014 adds Summit talks on open-world AI design, games writing

Game Developers Conference 2014 organizers have revealed a few new Summit talks for its March conference, including sessions explaining the challenges of open-world AI design from developers of games like Saints Row IV, a guide to teaching the fundamentals of writing for games, and a talk about making cross-platform mobile games from the co-founder of Kongregate.

Beyond the finalists: IGF 2014 Best In Audio jury picks

Gamasutra's Alex Wawro highlights more top-tier games that were nominated by jurors for this year's IGF, but didn't achieve the critical mass of votes necessary to be named a finalist.
Now that the IGF 2014 Main Competition finalists have been announced, let's talk a bit more about the selection process.
The main IGF competition has a diverse panel of judges that includes representatives from the mainstream game industry, previous IGF winners and finalists, other independent game developers, and a smattering of indie-friendly game journalists.

Blizzard shares Hearthstone design tips at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.
Today's highlights include a rundown of design tips based on Blizzard's experience building Hearthstone, a guide to animating human characters doing superhuman things from the animation director of Saints Row IV and a talk from Sucker Punch Productions about how they optimized inFamous: Second Son to take advantage of the PlayStation 4 hardware.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf postmortem coming to GDC 2014

For March's Game Developers Conference 2014, we're very happy to announce a new addition to our lineup of excellent sessions.
Nintendo's Aya Kyogoku and Katsuya Eguchi are teaming up to deliver a postmortem talk on acclaimed title Animal Crossing: New Leaf for Nintendo 3DS. The pair plan to discuss what it was like to develop a game in such a storied franchise. Attendees can expect to learn more about the challenges of trying to provide both old and new players with an Animal Crossing game that was fresh and interesting, while at the same time striving to keep the franchise true to its unique legacy.

The Last Of Us, Tearaway, Gone Home lead Choice Awards nominations

Organizers have revealed the finalists for the 14th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, the leading peer-based video game event celebrating the industry's top games and developers. Winners in all categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony, taking place on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 6:30pm at the San Francisco Moscone Center during the 2014 Game Developers Conference alongside the Independent Games Festival Awards.
Jointly leading the nominations with five each are Naughty Dog's action-adventure survival horror title The Last of Us - receiving nods for Game of the Year, Best Design, Best Visual Art, Best Narrative and Best Technology - and Media Molecule's PlayStation Vita title Tearaway, which received acclaim throughout 2013 for its art style and its creative use of the PS Vita inputs and sensors, and which was nominated for awards including Innovation and Best Handheld/Mobile Game.

2014 Independent Games Festival announces Main Competition finalists

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) juries have announced the Main Competition finalists for its prestigious 16th annual awards, honoring the most influential and outstanding development in independent video games. The IGF has nominated over 30 extraordinary game titles released in the past year.
Candidates for the 2014 IGF Awards were distributed to nearly 375 elite judges for evaluation. Expert juries specializing in distinct disciplines for each category then selected the IGF finalists following playthroughs and recommendations from the more than 650 IGF entrants. The numbers of entries have increased significantly from previous years, and are a testament to the growing popularity and importance of the IGF.

Ellie's buddy AI in The Last Of Us explained at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.
Today's highlights include a rundown of how Naughty Dog crafted Ellie's buddy AI in The Last Of Us, an expanded talk from Adam Orth on how developers can combat toxic behavior online, and a data-packed presentation from EEDAR co-founder Geoffrey Zatkin that can help attendees understand the trends -- big and small -- shaping the industry.

Crytek showcases the graphics tech powering Ryse at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.
Today's highlights include an explanation of how Crytek built the rendering technology in Ryse, a guide to using Kickstarter as a tool for community engagement from Colossal Kaiju Combat developer Sunstone Games, and a code review roundtable for programmers led by Insomniac Games' engine director. Audience participation on that last one is mandatory, and lively debate is encouraged.

Learn all about Destiny's customizable character design at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.
Today's highlights include a talk on Destiny's character customization system from an artist's perspective, a rundown of what designers and AI programmers can learn from the enemy AI systems in Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and a pretty intriguing look back at what went right -- and wrong -- in the process of transforming the subscription-based Rift into a free-to-play MMORPG.

Infamous: Second Son particle system explained at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.

Today's highlights include a deep dive into the particle system that powers Infamous: Second Son given by Sucker Punch's Bill Rockenbeck, a talk from Irrational Games Lead Character Artist Gavin Goulden on the challenges of working out compelling character designs for Bioshock Infinite, and a guide to optimizing your game's shader architecture for next-gen hardware from Avalanche Studios' Emil Persson.

Learn about the art of The Witness at GDC 2014

Passes for the Game Developers Conference 2014 are going fast, and today we're announcing even more sessions for the Main Conference that you'll want to check out.

Today's highlights include a behind-the-scenes look at the visual design of The Witness, a frank talk from DrinkBox Studios' Chris McQuinn about what works -- and what doesn't -- when you're trying to market a new game, and a postmortem analysis of how Jackpot Slots claimed the top-grossing slot on Google's Play store from Gree's Alex Rosen.

More noteworthy devs join IGF 2014's jury panels

The juries behind GDC 2014's Independent Games Festival continue to take form with an exciting lineup of highly lauded developers and industry professionals to decide the finalists for the awards this March.

While the juries are still being finalized as we move toward selection of IGF finalists, here are the confirmed jurors for the Excellence in Visual Arts and Excellence in Audio Awards, in alphabetical order (you can see jurors in additional categories here):

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