The Game Developers Conference is changing the course of its original (potentially risky) plan to host a hybrid personal / digital event in 2021. According to an announcement Thursday, GDC 2021 will be fully digital and split into three separate events to better and more securely accommodate the network, game windows and instruction sessions and panels for which the event is known.
The series of events begins with GDC Masterclass, a collection of virtual workshops and training for developers that takes place on March 4th and 5th. GDC Showcase, which is open to the public and can be attended for free, will be presented from March 15 to 19, with networks and lectures in a new range of content and formats’. Finally, the GDC 2021 will take place as a business and education-oriented event during the week of 19 July. The Independent Games Festival (IGF) also takes place that week on July 21st.
Last year’s GDC was pushed back to summer and held digitally, titled GDC Summer. Keeping the events digital in 2021 ensures that the conference will not become a potential COVID-19 superspreader event. This is a concern that has not prevented this year’s Mobile World Congress from advancing as a personal event.
Another added benefit of digitization is that it can make GDC 2021 much more accessible. Attending GDC in recent years has been prohibitively expensive for some independent developers, even before the cost of staying in San Francisco for a week. A digital event should allow more people to attend it without the cost of the trip.