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Pitch your talks for GDC 2021’s Summits, VRDC, and Game Career Seminar!

Informa Tech, the organizers of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2021, are now accepting submissions to present lectures and panels for the Summits, Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC), and Game Career Seminar portions of the event. The submission window is open through February 15th at 11:59PM PT.

GDC 2021 will be the 35th edition of the conference, and is set to take place as a hybrid event, both physically at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, July 19 – 23, 2021 alongside a robust virtual offering.

Summits and VRDC at GDC take place during Monday and Tuesday of GDC week, Game Career Seminar will take place on Friday.

The organizers of GDC 2021 would like prospective speakers to know that it is their goal to hold a safe and productive conference, and are taking comprehensive steps to ensure that is the case. As the first in-person/virtual hybrid GDC, speakers now have the opportunity to pitch remote presentations in addition to the traditional in-person format.

Submissions for the following Summits will be considered:

  • Advanced Graphics Summit
  • AI Summit
  • Animation Summit
  • Art Direction Summit
  • Audio Summit
  • Board Game Design Summit
  • Community Management Summit
  • Educators Summit
  • Esports Summit
  • Fair Play Summit
  • Free to Play Summit
  • Game Narrative Summit
  • Independent Games Summit
  • Level Design Summit
  • Machine Learning Summit
  • Math in Game Development Summit
  • Online Game Technology Summit
  • Production Essentials Summit
  • Technical Artist Summit
  • Tools Summit
  • UX Summit
  • Visual Effects Summit

You can also submit to VRDC and Game Career Seminar as well.

Those looking to submit proposals should first review the submission guidelines and topics prior to submitting. The submission process is divided into a three-phase system:

  • Phase I - open call for submissions and initial review by Summit Advisors.
  • Phase II - submission declines, acceptances or conditional Phase 2 acceptances sent, pending the submission of additional requested materials for Summit Advisor review
  • Phase III - review of Phase 2 resubmissions and final acceptances and declines sent

The GDC Summit Advisory Board is comprised of distinguished industry professionals who volunteer their time to help develop the numerous sessions at GDC. They work to ensure that the quality of the content provided to attendees is high-level, relevant, and timely.

Advisors to the specific Summit program you select will review your proposal while the Game Career Seminar is programmed by GDC staff and the Gamasutra editorial team. Submission review criteria is based on the concept, depth, organization, credentials, and takeaway.

GDC organizers and the Advisory Board aim to achieve diversity of voice, experience and perspective. When considering who would be best to speak on behalf of your company or department, it is strongly encouraged to take this goal into consideration.

For more details about the GDC 2021 submission process, visit the show's official website and subscribe to receive updates via the GDC Newsletter, Facebook,and Twitter.

For further inspiration, visit GDC Vault to access to a wide variety of free GDC session content from previous events.

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