Our favorite time of the year is nearly upon us: the annual (and newly renamed) GDC Festival of Gaming is next month! We’re looking forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, and sharing our vision for empowering developers today and into the future.
This year, GDC takes place from March 9-13 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. We’ll host partner meetings, participate in conference sessions, and sponsor events like the IGF Awards and the ESA Foundation’s Nite to Unite. Attendees that come by the Xbox Lounge in Moscone South Lobby can journey through our exhibit featuring key moments across 25 years of Xbox history, meet Xbox Subject Matter Experts, learn what steps they can take to begin building for the future, and sign up for our newsletter to receive a community pin.
At GDC, we’ll share how we’re giving developers the freedom to create and play on any device, with anyone, anywhere. We want to make it easier for developers to build and ship games, provide more ways to reach players, and offer more freedom to bring their bold creative ideas to life. Our goal is to empower creators of every size by providing cutting‑edge tools, services, and opportunities that accelerate innovation, reduce barriers, and help developers bring their games to players everywhere.
This year, for the first time, we are hosting the Xbox Dev Summit, where we’ll be presenting six sponsored sessions to help prepare attendees to build for what’s next. The Xbox Dev Summit is in West Hall Room 3001/3003 and will be kicking off with Jason Ronald, VP of Next Gen, at 10:10am on Wednesday, March 11.
Whether you’re an indie developer or a seasoned professional, speakers from Xbox, Windows, Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard, and King will be presenting insights for every stage of your development journey, so be sure to check out the full schedule below. If you will be engaging remotely, you can learn more by visiting our Game Development Resource Hub or our Game Developers Conference 2026 Hub.
For us, GDC 2026 is as much about showcasing the Xbox developer experience as it is about fostering collaboration with partners and driving our gaming future, together. We couldn’t be more excited to meet up with our friends and colleagues in the industry at GDC 2026 and explore the many incredible new opportunities that await. See you there!
Monday, March 9
Machine Learning Forum: Ask the Experts
Speakers: Julien Merceron (Orion Productions), Martin Singh-Blom (Embark Studios), Alessandro Sestini (Electronic Arts, SEED), Alexis Rolland (Ubisoft, La Forge) Alexandre Moufarek, (Google DeepMind), Zhen Zhai (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 10:30 am – 11:30am
Location: Room 3004, West Hall
Welcome Back: Updating ‘Diablo Immortal’s Returning Player Experience
Speaker: Nicole Maiorano (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 11:50am – 12:20pm
Location: Room 3002, West Hall
Ask Video Game Lawyers Anything (Legal AMA): This Normally Costs Money!
Speakers: Ryan Black (DLA Piper (Canada) LLP), Yan Perng (Blizzard Entertainment), Angelo Alcid (Microsoft Corp.), Brandon Huffman (Odin Law and Media)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 1:50pm – 2:50pm
Location: Room 204, South Hall
Game Designer’s Notebook
Speakers: Kenny Shea Dinkin (King), Cara Ely (Meta), Rohit Crasta (The New York Times), Jesse Schell (Schell Games)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 3:10pm – 4:10pm
Location: Room 2006, West Hall
Game Audio Programmer Roundtable Day 1
Speakers: Guy Somberg (Blizzard Entertainment), Tomas Neumann (CD Projekt Red)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Room 306, South Hall
Aged by Adventure: Crafting the Time-Worn World of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Speakers: António Figueiredo (MachineGames), Michael Tran (MachineGames), Vytautas Katarzis (MachineGames)
Date: Monday, March 9
Time: 5:00 – 6:00pm
Location: Adobe Substance Stage, Room 3001, West Hall
Tuesday, March 10
The Art & Science of Evergreen Games: Running Live Services That Last (Presented by King)
Speakers: Eva Ryott (King), Ryan Cooper (Mojang), Romain Jemma (King)
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 10:10am – 11:10am
Location: Room 2000, West Hall
Thriving Players Workshop
Speakers: Natasha Miller (Blizzard Entertainment), Matthew Soeth (Thriving in Games Group), Weszt Hart (Riot Games), Josh Chapdelaine (Thriving in Games Group), Ariana Barcenas Kanemoto (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 10:30am – 12:30pm
Location: Room 2014, West Hall
Designing Stadium: Crafting a New Game Mode for ‘Overwatch’
Speakers: Scott Hwang (Blizzard Entertainment), Larry Wu (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 1:50pm – 2:50pm
Location: Room 2005, West Hall
The Invisible Layer: Redesigning Communication and Navigation in ‘Candy Crush Soda Saga’
Speakers: Liza Dobrovoljc (King)
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 4:20pm – 5:20pm
Location: Room 2010, West Hall
The Universal Language of Monsters: Designing Creature Vocals in ‘Diablo Immortal’
Speakers: Todd Castillo (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Tuesday, March 10
Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Room 2003, West Hall
Wednesday, March 11
Xbox Developer Summit Keynote: Building for the Future with Xbox
Speakers: Jason Ronald (Xbox)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 10:10am – 11:10am
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
Bridging East and West Roundtable: Opportunities for Global Game Collaboration (Presented by the IGDA)
Speakers: Bo Mei (GoodDay Solution), Chase Shi (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Location: Room 301, South Hall
DirectX State of the Union 2026: DirectStorage and Beyond
Speakers: Shawn Hargreaves (Microsoft), Danny Chen (Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
QA is Your Strongest Design Ally
Speakers: Carey Littlefield (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 11:50am – 12:20pm
Location: Room 2001, West Hall
Press Start: Get Your PC Game Ready for Xbox in One Day
Speakers: Travis Bradshaw (Microsoft), Andy McCalib (Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 12:45pm – 1:45pm
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
Audio Optimization Microtalks
Speakers: Colin Walder (CD PROJEKT RED), Guy Somberg (Blizzard Entertainment), David Su (Naughty Dog)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 1:50pm – 2:50pm
Location: Room 2003, West Hall
Future Proof Your Game: Streamlined Workflows for a Multi-Device World
Speakers: Karla Larriva (Microsoft), Zach Hooper (Microsoft), Jon Martin (Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
Build Once, Play Anywhere: PlayFab Powers Xbox Cross-Platform Game Services
Speakers: Anthony Nguyen (Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 3:40pm – 4:40pm
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
Fight and Ye Shall Receive: How CWA’s Game Worker Union Campaigns Are Changing the Industry! (Presented by Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA))
Speakers: Josiah Clark (Blizzard Entertainment and CWA Local 9510), Juniper Dowell (Bethesda Softworks and CWA Local 2108), Vee Nguyen (SEGA of America and CWA Local 9510), Alex Speidel (Paizo and CWA Local 7800), Carolyn Jong (United Videogame Workers CWA Local 9433)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 3:40pm – 4:40pm
Location: Room 2011, West Hall
Building the Cultural World of ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’
Speakers: Kate Edwards (Geogrify/SetJetters)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Room 210, West Hall
Rip & Tear: Breaking Down the Rendering of ’DOOM: The Dark Ages’
Speakers: Dominik Lazare (id Software), Philip Hammer (id Software)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Room 2006, West Hall
Game Audio Programmer Roundtable Day 2
Speakers: Guy Somberg (Blizzard Entertainment), Tomas Neumann (CD Projekt Red)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Location: Room 314, South Hall
Leveling Up Player Engagement and Monetization with Xbox Play Anywhere
Speakers: Brady Woods (Microsoft)
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Room 3001/3003, West Hall
Thursday, March 12
Windows Game Development and Visual Studio 2026
Speakers: Hamza Usmani (Microsoft), David Li (Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 10:10am – 11:10am
Location: Room 2009, West Hall
Xbox Partner Panel: Maximizing Discovery and Reaching Beyond for the Next 25 Years of Play
Speakers: Xalavier Nelson Jr (Strange Scaffold), Andrea Rene (Andrea Rene), Matt Jeffery (Rebellion), Marcus Morgan (Obsidian Entertainment)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
Location: Room 2009, West Hall
DirectX: Bringing Console-Level GPU Tools to Windows
Speakers: Austin Kinross (Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
Location: Room 2020/2022, West Hall
Evolving DirectX for the ML Era on Windows
Speakers: Max McMullen (Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 12:45pm – 1:45pm
Location: Room 2024, West Hall
Advanced Shader Delivery on Windows
Speakers: Jesse Natalie (Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 3:40pm – 4:40pm
Location: Room 2011, West Hall
Gaming AI at Xbox: Responsible Innovation for Player Experiences
Speakers: Fatima Kardar (Microsoft), Sonali Yadav (Microsoft)
Date: Thursday, March 12
Time: 3:40pm – 4:40pm
Location: Room 2020/2022, West Hall
Friday, March 13
The Player-Centric Engine: CRM’s Role in Enabling Cross-Functional Growth for ‘Candy Crush Saga’
Speakers: Salome Gozalishvili (King)
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 11:40am – 12:10pm
Location: Room 3004, West Hall
Killer Art Portfolio or Portfolio Killer Part 2: Portfolio Reviews
Speakers: Greg Foertsch (Bit Reactor), Piero Macgowan (Bit Reactor), Gaurav Mathur (gamedevmap), Inmar Salvatier (Maxis), Jeff Parrott (Blizzard), Jade Law (Wardog Studios), Sarah LeBlanc (Bit Reactor), Rembert Montald (Lightspeed LA), Jordan DeVries (Respawn Entertainment), Gary Riley (Raven Software), Cutlar Nordyke III (Keywords Studios), Greg Knight (Lucasfilm Games), Ashley Sparling (K9 Digital), Jeff A. Johnson (inXile Entertainment), Jeff Skalski (Yellow Brick Games Inc.)
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 11:40am – 2:40pm
Location: Room 215, South Hall
Zenith: Diffusion Model Driven Map Generation
Speakers: Zhen Zhai (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 11:40am – 12:10pm
Location: Room 2010, West Hall
Lessons Learned in Running a Game the Hard Way: How Blizzard Revitalized ‘Overwatch’
Speakers: Aaron Keller (Blizzard Entertainment)
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 1:10pm – 2:10pm
Location: Room 2005, West Hall
Game Audio Programmer Roundtable Day 3
Speakers: Guy Somberg (Blizzard Entertainment), Tomas Neumann (CD Projekt Red)
Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 1:30 – 2:30pm
Location: Room 314, South Hall
