GDC Festival of Gaming: 7 things to watch out for, from the Awards to Agentic AI focus

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is undergoing a radical transformation for its 40th anniversary, at the crux of which is its official rebrand as the GDC Festival of Gaming.

Featuring every single type of role, discipline, and tech involved in bringing games to life, the five-day event is all set to return to San Francisco’s Moscone Center from March 9-13 this year, with broader perspectives, new interactive formats, and "more opportunities to learn, collaborate, and celebrate together".

Here are the seven biggest things to watch out for, on the road to the GDC's 40th anniversary this year:

Kojima out, Pardo in

After Hideo Kojima's shock withdrawal from the keynote slot for reasons unknown, the GDC faced the mammoth task of finding someone to replace him. Enter Rob Pardo, a top executive at Blizzard Entertainment and one of the chief minds behind the World of Warcraft games.

The veteran game developer, renowned for his enduring online games, is all set to deliver his keynote address on March 12.

The big price drop

Finally ditching its corporate, expensive reputation, the show has swapped its complex badge system for a simplified set of four passes, starting at $549 for students and $649 for indie studios/startups.

This is said to be a major reduction in prices from the previous years, promising a more diverse, curious crowd with folks of all ages.

'Clair Obscur' back for more?

It looks like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not ready to get off the spotlight yet, as the Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) on March 12 this year sees the French turn-based indie RPG leading with eight nominations.

However, like in the Game Awards 2025, it is set to face heavy competition in the 'Game of the Year' category, where it faces off against Hollow Knight: Silksong. 

Agentic AI in gaming

In exciting sessions from Big Tech companies that show how far artificial intelligence has penetrated the gaming community, you get to see how Google Deepmind reworks NPCs to follow "game-world reasoning" and how agentic AI can be used to personalise experiences, among many others that just want to show you how to make your games feel more alive.

Paint the town red with GDC Nights

Calling the GDC a "festival" wasn't just a simple name change, as the aim is more to spread the celebration of games throughout San Francisco.

This year, even the opening night on March—among other nights—is set to take place outdoors at the Ballpark, where the gaming community reunites for tabletop battles, surprise activations, classic ballpark bites, and a fan-voted movie screening (this year, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).

The "console-class" makeover

Semiconductor giant Arm, which has a gaming arm of its own, seeks to address the AAA gap between console and mobile games this year with a series of discussions on every advantage that the former holds over the latter.

Featuring developers like Epic Games, Sumo Digital, and tech giants like NVIDIA, the Expo floor is set to see a number of events on topics like neural rendering, the future of ray tracing, and emerginng technologies that will decide the future of gaming.

Looking into the future

Amid the recent industry-wide layoffs outlined in its State of the Industry Report 2026, the GDC has introduced a number of sessions that teach you the business of survival as a game developer/company—covering everything from modern best practices to securing sustainable funding.