Inside GDC 2024: How Annual Video Game Conference Has Pivoted Programming Amid Industrywide Layoffs
When this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicks off Monday at the Moscone Center in San Fransisco, one topic is sure to be hanging over those in attendance at the five-day event: who has a job and who doesn’t — and who might still lose theirs soon.
Rather than sweep the uncomfortable subject of the thousands of layoffs that have hit the video game industry recently under the rug, GDC leadership has specifically tailored GDC 2024’s programming lineup to address the issue head on and offer assistance to the out-of-work attendees looking to make the most out of participating in the 38th annual conference while unemployed.
“We’re doing quite a bit around around helping people find what they need to get their next job,” GDC event director Stephenie Hawkins tells Variety.
“We have a lot of sessions around career development — anything from the soft skills that you need as you’re looking for jobs to the more technical skills the you need when applying for jobs,” Hawkins said. “We have our Game Career seminar on Friday with more content than we’ve ever had. And we also have portfolio reviews for official art.”
Hawkins adds that equal effort has been put into resources for the hiring manager side, because there are actually video game publishers and developers looking for new talent.
“For exhibitors that are hiring, we have an option within our mobile app where they can add a tag that they are hiring, so attendees know where they can go once they get on site, and ‘I’m Hiring’ ribbons are available for GDC badges,” Hawkins said. “We have the Game Developer Job Board on our website, where you can post jobs, if you’re looking to hire, or if you’re looking for a job you can go there, and we will have a printed version of the job board on site. And it fills up so quickly; people are writing different notes on it, which is great to see, about who’s hiring or who to contact for interviews. Then we have speed networking, which is a great way to have organized meetings with other attendees for networking and expanding networks.”
Among those companies that will be talking about available positions in the GDC business meeting room are Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, Nintendo, Roblox, Samsung, King and Playtika.
