Learn directly from industry leaders

This is the most hopeful DEIA talk you’ve ever seen! From the writer/narrative designer of Rooster, who got to feel the joy of being in the majority on a racially diverse team, bringing her best self and most vulnerable, heartfelt work to a stunning video game. In especially troubling times, it’s important to celebrate a win when people of East Asian heritage got to highlight the best parts of their culture for a marketable viable product. Deb will discuss how to build and foster a racially diverse team and highlight economic benefits that make for better games and greater global market reach.

James Baldwin said “to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all the time” and that is especially true for Black women in game development.

AAA game development still feels hostile and the feelings are substantiated by the International Game Developers Association Diversity Report - women of colour are by far the most educated in game development, yet hold the lowest % of permanent positions, and the lowest % of managerial roles.

So how does someone with no power make an impact? In the company? The community? On the project? How far can rage carry a career in game dev?

How do you lead a team in a new product space? First-time lead designer Noor Amin explores how a team of junior developers at Riot Games created The Demon’s Hand, League of Legends' first seasonal metagame. Using stories from the project’s development, Amin illustrates how design leadership grounded the team in shared language, navigated conflicting incentives, and built stability in the face of ambiguity. Attendees gain practical skills for unlocking a team’s strengths when working without clear precedents.

Do you have a great idea but you're worried you might be getting something wrong or engaging in stereotypes? Maybe you want to create a diverse world, but need advice on how to do it? Are your characters from different backgrounds and have different experiences than the people working on your project? In this panel our group of Sensitivity and Cultural Consulting Experts addresses when, how, and who to engage for consulting to level up your game and the benefits they can bring. They answer common questions and describe common pitfalls when hiring or not hiring for sensitivity consulting.

This talk, "Creating Within Fear", will share tips, stories, and ways artists can take actionable steps to inspire change in themselves and others. Sometimes, you must get off your computer, put on your shoes, and be present in your community. Other times, you're being led to learn and understand the issues you care about. Art and growth can be solitary experiences as all levels of creatives are prone to creating alone to share with a broader audience, to convey hope, rage, dreams, struggles, new ideas, fear, and grief, as a response to ever-changing environments. Do it scared. But not alone!

Through an anecdotal and high-level approach, this talk will cover techniques and ways that developers can embed adaptability into their processes. By the end, attendees should have an answer to the question: how can I stay creative and healthy during turbulent times?

The talk will draw examples from real examples, highlight methods to avoid doomscrolling, demonstrate how to prioritize one's wellbeing in order to set goals that can serve as a North Star.

This talk explores *Ethnic Hair Grooms*, a groundbreaking initiative by Coded Arts that brings authentic Black and Afro-Caribbean hair textures to 3D character design. Led by veteran artist Caiphus Moore, the session features real-time hair examples created in Unreal Engine 5 and powered by NVIDIA’s latest path tracing technology. It also showcases hair card techniques for 4C hair—arguably the most challenging to recreate—offering attendees deep insight into inclusive pipelines and culturally rooted asset creation.

Five Mics is a fast-paced, hip-hop trading card game.

Interdisciplinary artist and designer April Soetarman will go into the in-depth development of The End of the Day, an award-winning interactive narrative that started as a solo RPG and turned into a deeply hopeful public audio installation that can only be played at sunset. Through this case study, audiences will explore how adapting a story across different mediums, from Twine to Zoom to guerrilla physical installation, has its own unique advantages and challenges. This talk will offer insights into finding the “right” form for your interactive story through experimentation and iteration.

Let’s face it. When consuming a narrative, we’ve all had a moment of “I’ll never see someone like myself in this type of story.” That’s why we’re here now, creating those stories we wanted to see when we were younger. Enter tabletop role-playing games, a uniquely collaborative storytelling medium that can push the boundaries of what we expect from a genre through character and narrative creation.

High Elo Girls is a Visual Novel set in the esports scene where you play as the latest recruit for a new all-girls team. Can you help your squad achieve their true potential, or will you only squander your own?

While the game industry attracts talented, passionate workers the world over, it’s notorious for rewarding those workers with low wages, long hours, and layoffs. But workers have been changing this with their collective power, often led by the most vulnerable, including developers of color. In this panel, we’ll hear from labor organizers about their experiences making this industry do better by them and their fellow workers. We’ll explore what led them to organize, the victories, the defeats, the comebacks, and how they navigated spaces that were not built with them in mind.

In a constantly evolving world where you don’t even know which social media you’re supposed to post on anymore(or if you’re even allowed to), how do you continue to evolve your strategy and stay on top of new trends, new platforms, new ideas, while just trying to finish a game. In this Marketing and Development Postmortem about Keylocker | Turn Based Cyberpunk Action, I will be exploring exactly how we tried to do that through the death of Tumblr, the rise of TikTok and the regrettable existence of the artist formerly known as Twitter, how we built our game from 0 wishlists to 100 thousand!

This talk provides attendees with a practical roadmap for starting communities in games, from early research and outreach to organizing events and building long-term sustainability. Attendees will learn how AAPI in gaming formed and went from 0 to over 3000 members in less than one year. It cites examples of how AAPI in Gaming partnered with IGDA, leading to a roundtable at GDC, hosting a 100+ person meetup, and interviewing industry developers. Attendees will walk away with actionable steps, behind-the-scenes insights, and the inspiration to start or grow their own communities.

Loading... is a 2D-3D shifting adventure game about a boy who finds out about his brother’s life and death through an all-night gaming spree.

In this talk, I will take attendees on a journey through the history of video games in Mexico, spanning 50 years of innovation, challenges, and cultural impact. The session will highlight key moments in the industry, from early arcade games (maquinitas) to the rise of modern indie developers. I will also discuss the significance of local games and their contributions to global gaming culture, emphasizing how Mexico has carved its own unique identity in the gaming world.

I’ll share personal anecdotes and insights into the importance of preserving this history and giving visibility to the efforts of Mexican developers, often overlooked in mainstream narratives. This talk will also touch on the current state of the industry in Mexico and the opportunities for growth, collaboration, and representation for marginalized communities, including women in game development.

Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the Mexican video game industry’s history and the value of fostering a diverse, inclusive gaming ecosystem. This session is important for those interested in the global impact of Latin American gaming culture and the ways in which local histories shape the industry today.

Each social media platform is a microcosm of society with its own culture and social norms. Understanding these norms, can help you make marketing more effective, more fun and more human! In this talk, we will take a look at some of these unspoken social rules and examples for how to more thoughtfully engage in these online social spaces.

Face the supernatural dangers of the Olympic Exclusion Zone with a car as your only lifeline in this driving survival adventure! Scavenge resources, load up your trusty station wagon, and drive like hell to make it through alive.

Navigating the pitch process can feel fraught with unknowns. Who do you talk to? What do you need? How do you stand out in a sea of decks, budgets, and builds? Especially now, pitching IS a challenge, and it's important to make sure that you stack all the odds in your favor. This talk is an overview of specific elements and questions Jenny has encountered (and used) as someone evaluating game pitches, as well as discussion of the intangibles that scouts keep an eye out for. After hearing this talk, you'll hopefully feel more confident in your knowledge of the process and what to anticipate!

With insights from my journey as a game designer, Tibetan Buddhist teacher, and death doula, this talk explores how play can become a powerful tool for transformation, turning our most challenging emotions into opportunities for connection and liberation. Together, I'll share how my work weaving contemplative practices with game design taps into a kind of "spiritual technology"—a compassionate landscape where players can reclaim agency around topics like grief, isolation, death, and dying, transforming taboo experiences into opportunities for genuine vulnerability and surprising joy. Whether you're a designer ready to push ethical boundaries or someone fascinated by how play unlocks difficult conversations, you'll walk away understanding the potential for using intentional play to make life's hardest moments more manageable, in and out of game—plus an example of how playing games has the potential to transform grief into collective power and personal growth.

The past few years have been some of the most stressful, with many indie game devs questioning if it's possible to find success as a small studio. Join Miko Charbonneau, studio lead of prettysmart games, in an honest and uplifting discussion of how you can make it on your own despite the many challenges. With a focus on practical game production tips we've learned through running our remote team over the past several years, we'll cover how to prioritize mental health without losing momentum, even if you work part-time or have a small budget.

Tanat Boozayaangool is an independent game developer from Bangkok, Thailand with a background in corporate tech burnout. He's now working towards his ridiculous studio debut, Building Relationship, to tell the most human stories within the most absurd worlds. In essence, he's making "bingo bongo" games that are secretly "daddy did not love me" games.

The Crimson Diamond is a cozy mystery adventure game set in Canada in the early 1900s. It blends a retro aesthetic with modern game design innovations.

The talk about Defensora Shihua showcases how a video game can transform entertainment into concrete environmental action. Attendees will discover the development process behind the game, from its narrative focused on protecting the Amazon rainforest to its real-world impact in conserving hectares of jungle. Examples include using a guardian “sajino” to defend ancient trees and converting in-game progress into actual protected areas. This discussion promises to inspire viewers with an innovative perspective on the potential of video games to address global issues like deforestation.

Calling all developers, gamers, and desk dwellers! This workshop is designed to help you with those aches and pains we develop from being hunched over the latest project or finishing a campaign for fun. Discover the secrets to conquering seated life and beyond with mobility stretches and strength movements. Plus, unlock the key to sustained energy with bonuses, including nutrition tips and upgrades featuring Marvel Fitness Deck cards! Get ready to level up your wellness so you can stay in the game IRL without your body rage-quitting.

Tabletop roleplaying games—long considered videogames’ lesser sisters—are enjoying a renaissance. Whether thanks to actual plays like CRITICAL ROLE, indie darlings like DISCO ELYSIUM, or blockbusters like BALDUR’S GATE III, TTRPGs currently enjoy previously unimaginable attention. This talk focusses on what videogames can learn from their analogue counterparts. After all, some scholars argue that modern videogames owe their design & aesthetic trappings to old-school D&D. So what can D20 tables, goofy character sheets, & silly voices teach videogame creators? And what’s up with the dice?

Game Literacy is not often discussed in game design meetings, but it has a strong impact on the effectiveness of game design. Designing games without understanding the game literacy of your audience is like writing a book for people who can't understand your language without the assistance of a translator. This talk will cover different types of game literacy, its impact on game design, and how to design a game that matches the game literacy of your players.

You might have heard the advice “Don’t make your dream game first”.

I’m going to try to inspire you to ignore that advice!! Why shouldn’t you start with your dream game?! Who cares if the scope is outrageous or you don’t have the skills to make it. You’re here for the joy of making games and what better way to get better at it is there than to work on something you love?

In this talk I’ll share lessons from my experiences making and releasing my first game and make a case for you to start on your dream game!