GDC 2026 rips off the band-aid

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Last week, GDC returned for a much smaller conference.

This year’s show was a transitional one for GDC as the event organisers ripped the band-aid off and rebranded with the Festival of Gaming title. The conference has felt in a slow decline for years and that became more apparent this year as attendance figures fell by a third from 2025 to 20,000 attendees.

The problems facing the conference are many:

• A post industry-wide slump has seen mass layoffs. These are largely said to be from jobs in California.
• The current US administration’s policies have seen some stay away from the show. To obtain my Visa, I was required to give details of all my social media. I personally closed my X account as a precaution.
• The US-Israel attacks on Iran meant attendees from the Middle East were largely not able to attend as airports were closed and the future of the war remains uncertain.
• Gamescom has muscled in on GDC with its B2B space and B2C expo. It welcomed 34,000 trade visitors and 1,500+ exhibitors last year – more than GDC.
• Big stands in the last few years have come from the web3/blockchain and AI space. The web3 firms have largely ended their big sponsorships for expo space.
• Companies like Unity, Unreal and other previous large exhibitors have ended or reduced their presence on the expo floor.
• San Francisco has for a while now proved unpopular for some attendees, particularly after the city was hit hard by the pandemic. 

The official figures claimed GDC 2026 hosted 20,000 attendees, with 1,100 speakers, over 700 sessions and more than 300 exhibitors. The North Hall expo area was closed, a space previously reserved for developers to showcase their games, company meeting booths and seating.

But how much smaller was the show? As well as a drop in attendees, the expo floor was down by approximately 25% compared to last year’s touted 400+ figure.

You have to go back 15 years to 2011 when GDC last had below 20,000 visitors, hosting over 19,000. That’s not taking into account the 12,000 in-person visitors and 5,000 online attendees at the post-pandemic 2022 show.

Meanwhile, exhibitors haven’t been this low (excluding GDC 2022) since 2012. For reference, 2022’s event had 200+, while 2012 had 300+ exhibitors.

It’s notable that GDC organisers stated that more than 85 countries were represented at the show this year. It has not revealed this figure for the past 15 years of data we’ve looked back on.

PocketGamer.biz was in attendance at last week’s conference. The expo floor certainly felt smaller than any time I’ve personally been at the show since 2014.

A number of attendees expressed their concerns over the size of the expo – with one questioning how the event might continue in the years ahead. Others noted how empty previously bustling surrounding hotels like the W and the Marriott Marquis were by comparison to previous years. But it’s worth noting that those we spoke with generally had a productive show.

Away from the expo floor, the number of sessions stood at 700+, slightly down from previous years. We were told that some of these were packed – with some attendees unable to even gain entry when talks hit capacity. That said, one session I attended in the YBCA theatre, which housed the Luminaries Speaker Series, was largely empty.

GDC’s big moment will be in 2027, with the dates already announced as March 1st to 5th. One key concern is the state of the expo floor – if exhibitor numbers continue to fall, how will that impact the conference’s profitability and what will that mean for the rest of the show and its future? I’m reminded of GDC Europe’s fate as the number of booths at that show declined over a few years.

The industry needs a conference like GDC. Though Gamescom is an excellent show, how many events can you sit down and overhear developers talking about the specifics of game design? GDC connects the community like no other on the matter of making games, while other shows tend to focus more on business.

GDC’s rebrand to the Festival of Gaming felt confused in its execution, but it’s at least a sign that organisers are acknowledging the show’s problems and are taking action to address the challenges they have control over. Hopefully it’s not too late.