Agenda

Name: GDC Festival of Gaming
Start: 2026-03-09
End: 2026-03-13
Location: Moscone Center

Your Festival lineup starts here. Browse and filter by Pass Type, Track, Format, Audience Level, and (new this year) Tags!

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Mar 11 Wednesday | 9:45 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 9:45am - 10:00am

GDC Festival Hall Open!

Festival Hall Networking

Location: South Hall Lobby, Moscone Center

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event

Format: Special Event

Mar 11 Wednesday | 10:00 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 10:00am - 1:00pm

Base Camp: Day 1

Networking Festival Hall

Location: Booth 1765, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Career

Mar 11 Wednesday | 10:30 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 10:30am - 11:30am

It Takes a Village: Live at GDC Day 1

Festival Hall

Speakers: Samantha Beart (Independent), Austin Wintory

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Culture & Sustainability

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 11 Wednesday | 11:00 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 11:00am - 11:30am

GDC Side Quest Podcast Live: Sam Carlisle

Festival Hall

Moderator: Beth Elderkin (GDC Festival of Gaming)

Speaker: Sam Carlisle (XDS)

Location: GDC Commons Stage

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event, Business Strategy

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 11 Wednesday | 11:10 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 11:10am - 11:30am

Redefining Quality: The Critical Role of QA in a Changing Games Industry (Presented by Testronic)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Samantha Williams (Testronic)

Location: International Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: Intermediate

Track: Production

Format: Power Talk

Mar 11 Wednesday | 11:45 am

Wednesday, March 11 | 11:45am - 12:15pm

Player Safety Strategy in Action: Real-World Moderation Strategies from Two Live Multiplayer Games (Presented by Modulate)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Mark Frumkin (Modulate)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: Intermediate

Track: Game & Production Technology, Product Management

Format: Lecture

Mar 11 Wednesday | 12:35 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 12:35pm - 1:35pm

GDC Pitch: Day 1

Festival Hall

Speakers: Rebekah Saltsman (Finji), Jason Della Rocca (Execution Labs), Justin Woodward (Media Indie Exchange), Sylvain Sechi (New Tales)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event, Business Strategy

Format: Special Event

Mar 11 Wednesday | 2:00 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Live Podcast Interview: Scaling Up a Project with the Creators of 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33' (Presented by Perforce)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speakers: Jase Lindgren (Perforce Software), Tom Guillermin (Sandfall Interactive)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Game & Production Technology

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 11 Wednesday | 2:30 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 2:30pm - 3:00pm

GDC Side Quest Podcast Live: Samantha Béart

Festival Hall

Moderator: Beth Elderkin (GDC Festival of Gaming)

Speaker: Samantha Beart (Independent)

Location: GDC Commons Stage

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event

Format: Fireside Chat

Wednesday, March 11 | 2:30pm - 2:50pm

Responsible AI (Presented by Villain Studios)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speakers: Mark Long (VILLAIN Studios), Don Norbury (VILLAIN Studios)

Location: Indie & Education Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Independent Development

Format: Power Talk

Mar 11 Wednesday | 3:00 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 3:00pm - 4:00pm

GDC Side Quest Podcast Live: State of the Game Industry Panel

Festival Hall

Moderator: Beth Elderkin (GDC Festival of Gaming)

Panelists: Liam Deane (Omdia), Laine Nooney (New York University), Ben Porter (Newzoo)

Location: GDC Commons Stage

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event

Format: Panel

Mar 11 Wednesday | 3:10 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 3:10pm - 4:10pm

'Pianomania': Piano Rhythm Game Debut & Live Tournament

Festival Hall

Speakers: Matt Takao (Pianomania), Will Sievern (Pianomania)

Location: Indie & Education Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Game & Production Technology, Audio

Format: Special Event

Wednesday, March 11 | 3:10pm - 4:10pm

Content Creation in Game Development

Festival Hall

Speakers: Juniper Dev (Independent), Nick Kaman (Aggro Crab), Jordan Ottesen (O. and Co. Games), Emily Pitcher (SonderingEmily)

Location: Monetization & Player Engagement Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Discovery & Marketing, Culture & Sustainability

Format: Panel

Mar 11 Wednesday | 3:20 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 3:20pm - 4:20pm

Fireside Chat with Amir Rao of Supergiant Games

Festival Hall

Speakers: Trent Kusters (League of Geeks), Amir Rao (Supergiant Games)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Design, Independent Development

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 11 Wednesday | 4:30 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Built to Share: How 'Date Everything!'’s Royalty Framework Turned 100+ Performers into Partners

Festival Hall

Speakers: Ray Chase (Sassy Chap Games), Logan Burdick (Sassy Chap Games), Matthew Cohen (Creative Artists Agency (CAA))

Location: Monetization & Player Engagement Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Track: Business Strategy

Format: Lecture

Wednesday, March 11 | 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Critique My Page: Live at GDC

Festival Hall

Speakers: Chris Zukowski (Howtomarketagame.com), Derek Lieu (Derek Lieu Creative)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Independent Development, Discovery & Marketing

Format: Special Event

Wednesday, March 11 | 4:30pm - 5:30pm

From Star Trek to Start Up: Turning Science Fiction into Science Fact

Festival Hall

Speaker: Brent Bushnell (DreamPark)

Location: Future Tech Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Game & Production Technology

Format: Forum

Mar 11 Wednesday | 5:00 pm

Wednesday, March 11 | 5:00pm - 5:30pm

Amber: Distributed Development in Rising Countries

Festival Hall

Speakers: Mihai Pohontu (Amber Studio), Andreea Enache (Amber Studio)

Location: International Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Business Strategy, Culture & Sustainability

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 12 Thursday | 10:30 am

Thursday, March 12 | 10:30am - 11:00am

Gaming Success on Discord: Data-Driven Insights into Community Growth and Player Engagement (Presented by Discord)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Timothy Lu (Discord)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: Entry-Level

Track: Business Strategy

Format: Lecture

Mar 12 Thursday | 11:00 am

Thursday, March 12 | 11:00am - 11:30am

GDC Side Quest Podcast Live: Austin Wintory

Festival Hall

Moderator: Beth Elderkin (GDC Festival of Gaming)

Speaker: Austin Wintory (Independent)

Location: GDC Commons Stage

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event, Audio

Format: Fireside Chat

Mar 12 Thursday | 11:10 am

Thursday, March 12 | 11:10am - 11:30am

The Player Journey Revolution: Why Gaming's Next Billion Users Will Never See a Password (Presented by FusionAuth)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Brad McCarty (FusionAuth)

Location: Monetization & Player Engagement Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Game & Production Technology

Format: Power Talk

Mar 12 Thursday | 11:30 am

Thursday, March 12 | 11:30am - 12:00pm

GDC Side Quest Podcast Live: Amra Khullar & Shafik Quoraishee

Festival Hall

Moderator: Beth Elderkin (GDC Festival of Gaming)

Speakers: Amra Khullar (The New York Times), Shafik Quoraishee (The New York Times)

Location: GDC Commons Stage

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Special Event

Format: Fireside Chat

Thursday, March 12 | 11:30am - 12:30pm

How Do I Get My Game on IGN?

Festival Hall

Speakers: Peer Schneider (IGN Entertainment), Ryan McCaffrey (IGN Entertainment), Justin Davis (IGN Entertainment), Miranda Sanchez (IGN Entertainment)

Location: Festival Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Discovery & Marketing

Format: Panel

Mar 12 Thursday | 11:50 am

Thursday, March 12 | 11:50am - 12:10pm

Six Months to a Playable Demo: Building Aelwater as Indie Devs (Presented by Yeariver)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Yuning Yang (Yeariver)

Location: Indie & Education Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: Advanced

Track: Independent Development

Format: Power Talk

Thursday, March 12 | 11:50am - 12:10pm

Why Games Fail to Scale: Stop Optimizing CPI and Start Fixing the Game (Presented by Game Lyft)

Festival Hall

Sponsor Speaker: Noman Ahsan (GameLyft AI)

Location: Monetization & Player Engagement Stage, South Hall

Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass

Audience Level: All

Track: Business Strategy

Format: Power Talk

Agenda

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