Our Takeaways from GDC 2025

We recently returned from San Francisco where we attended GDC 2025 and in this blog post we’ll be going over our takeaways from the event and answer the question, was GDC 2025 worth it? (for us)

Some Context is Needed First

After our win at the GDC pitch session in 2024, we were awarded 2 All-Access passes for GDC 2025. These passes are usually out of our price range (~2200 USD each), so it was a big opportunity to see how much more value we would get out of them compared to our previous Indie and Expo passes. Another factor that helped us decide to go was that we received grant funding from Edmonton Screen (a local organization) to help offset some of the costs. In the past, we’ve gotten good value out of going to GDC so these two factors tipped us towards going to GDC 2025.

Despite receiving that sizable financial help, San Francisco is still extremely expensive, especially during GDC. We are a Canadian studio and so the exchange rate made it even pricier. Not to mention the current political climate which made us uneasy about going. 

Our Goals at GDC 2025

Our goals for GDC were to attend some talks to help us in areas like marketing, production, and audio expertise. We also wanted to meet with major platform holders such as Nintendo and Xbox to discuss porting to those consoles for The Rabbit Haul as well as being featured in their showcase. Another goal of ours was to present at The Mix and Day of the Devs. Finally, we wanted to connect with other game devs and build connections to share experiences and help each other out.

Was Attending GDC Worth it?

It’s hard to quantify but we’ll do our best to summarize our thoughts below.

The meetings & showcases

No.

We did not manage to meet with Nintendo (we hear it’s a bit of a unicorn to meet with Nintendo at GDC), but we did meet with the folks at ID@Xbox. It is good practice to set up face time with your network to deepen your professional relationship at GDC. I believe we were successful in that regard with Xbox.

Unfortunately, we also didn’t make it into The mix or Day of the Devs. By the time we heard back from those decisions though, our flights and accommodation were booked. We wish those slots were confirmed well in advance to make it easier for international studios to make informed decisions on their attendance to GDC.

The talks

Yes and no.

The marketing talks we attended felt like they were aimed towards a more entry level crowd. It was good knowledge but a lot of the information we had already learned from reading the newsletter from Chris Zukowksi or Game Discover Co. At our stage, we need more specialized help when it comes to our marketing efforts. 

Similarly, production talks were often geared towards much bigger teams than ours which have different problems than we do. However, some learnings could be applied to our studio. More than anything, production talks mostly confirmed that all teams face the same problems we do, and that there are no clear solutions for them.

The audio and design sessions were a lot more interesting. They offered more niche advice on various workflows and design patterns. We felt more inspired after attending talks that were on the creative side of game development rather than business ones. It sounds pretty obvious when saying it now, but we overdid it on business talks this year which kind of drained us.

The people

Definitely, yes.

The friends we make along the way are always the highlight of game dev events. It’s great to chat to other devs and get inspired by what they are making. We also grow our network of gamedevs we can talk to if we run into hiccups or if we need advice or vice versa. “The friends we made along the way” is a hard thing to quantify in terms of return on investment. These are not transactional connections but there’s something to be said about growing your network. Also meeting in person over online helps build a better rapport.

It was great to chat with indie developers that are at different parts of their journeys. Commiserating with some that have similar struggles and sharing tips, joining impromptu park pitch sessions to try and help devs practice, or simply, hearing about each other’s games. Everyone we’ve met shared a love of games, each in their own way and for different aspects of development. Either way, the sense of community felt at GDC is still alive and well and it is invigorating to be around.

GDC overall vibes

No.

Generally, attendance felt down across the board at GDC. We figured it is due to what has been happening in the broader games industry mixed with the recent political shift. However, it was still surprising to see some of the bigger companies not having a presence on the show floor (Nintendo, Sony, Xbox, Unity, Epic). They were still present at GDC but in a smaller capacity and behind closed doors. A lot of the country pavilions also skipped this year, including the Canada booth. All this resulted in less games being shown on the expo floor which was sad to see.

However, the games that were displayed at the show were just as vibrant as always. The alt.ctrl.GDC section showed off truly innovative modes of playing games, the GDC Play area had some gems that I can’t wait to see more of, and as usual, the IGF and Day of the Devs games are worth having on your radar!

The Result

So given similar goals, we would not go back to GDC next year. The current cost of the conference coupled with the deteriorating Canada-US relations make it not worth the trouble. Don’t get me wrong, GDC has always been expensive but things were really cranked to 11 this year. The only justification for going back is if we had a specific showcase we were attending like The Mix or Day of the Devs or if we were pitching to publishers.

Still Considering GDC? Read on.

However, if you’re considering going to GDC, here are some tips and resources to get the most out of it:

Funding (Canada & Edmonton specific)

• Edmonton Screen, formerly Edmonton Screen Industries Office (ESIO), has funding opportunities available to Edmonton studios to attend industry events such as GDC. Read more on that here.
• The Trade Commissioner Service often has free Meet to Match passes to give out to studios attending GDC. (More on Meet to Match below) Stay in touch with your local Interactive Digital Media organization to have access to those opportunities.

Setting up Meetings

• Meet To Match is a platform to set up meetings with other attendees. In the past, we have gotten a good amount of use out of it, and it got us in front of publishers we wouldn’t have had the network to talk to. This year, it was a bit quieter and had a lot more service providers, so mileage may vary per year or per event (they run the platform for a multitude of gamedev events).
• Sometimes, you’ll be able to fully book your schedule using Meet To Match but if you are unable to, LinkedIn can still be a viable option. A lot of publishers are taking meetings at GDC and are not on Meet to Match.
• Make sure to communicate early; a lot of people get their schedules filled 2 or 3 weeks before the event.
• If you want to meet with platform holders such as Nintendo, you need to book those meetings in January outside of Meet to Match (Linkedin is your friend).

Pitch Deck Preparation

• For this, I’ll refer back to our previous blog post on this. Don’t forget to practice and be prepared to pitch in loud environments!

Meeting Other Developers

• Hang out in the Yerba Buena Gardens, it’s always full of inviting devs that are just there to meet new people.
• The Indie Hostel is also a great place to meet other developers, the lounge area is always welcoming, and you never know who you might run into. It’s also ideal that it is one of the cheaper options for accommodation near the convention center in San Francisco during this time. Keep in mind that you need to stay at the Hostel to have access to the lounge.
• The Marriott Marquis lobby is one of the most popular locations for meetings at GDC. The lobby is bustling with developers and publishers throughout the week. Hanging out there and introducing yourself to people waiting for their meeting to start is a great way to meet stakeholders in the industry. The Marquis also has a great bar (sometimes referred to as The Death Star) to just hang out at night.
• GDCFeet is a hike that’s organized by devs to walk along the beach and see the sights. It happens on the Saturday after GDC and it’s a great way to decompress at the end of the week and get a more relaxed setting to connect with other devs.
• There are a few lists of events and parties that circulate before GDC which are great to plan your evenings like this one.

Showcasing at GDC

• Showing your game on the GDC show floor is a bit of a lottery; you may run into someone that has an impact for you but the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, and the cost of showcasing is simply not worth it. More exclusive events may yield better results, such as The Mix or Day of the Devs, which have press specific times. However, it is a highly competitive process to be selected to participate in those events. Keep an eye on this list of showcases and festivals for opportunities at GDC and beyond.
• Keep in mind that GDC is a business to business (b2b) event and that influencers, the press, and consumers don’t really attend the show floor. If your goal is to get marketing traction such as wishlists, GDC is NOT the right event for you. You should look into Gamescom instead. We have a blog post about our experience at Gamescom 2023 if you are interested in knowing more about that.

We hope these insights into our GDC 2025 experience are useful to you! If you haven’t done so already, please wishlist The Rabbit Haul on Steam to support our small studio.

Until next time 👋