From the Floor GDC 2026 Edition
I've heard people describe GDC as the Super Bowl of the games industry. Walking the expo floor this year, I'm not sure that's true anymore - at least not in the way it used to be.
The hall felt smaller than I expected. A lot of the real conversations weren’t happening inside the venue, but in nearby hotel lobbies. It felt less like a public showcase and more like an annual gathering of people who already know each other.
If you came expecting to be wowed by what’s on the floor, you might have left a little underwhelmed. Much of what was on display felt either safe, or still early—university projects finding their footing.
But that's the wrong place to look.
The talks are still worth coming for. The roundtable sessions especially - where it's not a speaker presenting at you but a room full of people exchanging real thoughts. I went to one called "Bridging East and West: Opportunities for Global Game Collaboration." People from both sides of the world in one room, talking about what makes each market unique, what the real roadblocks are, where the opportunities might be. The most honest moment was when someone pointed out something simple: if you haven't lived it, you won't understand it. Culture isn't something you can just translate. It has to be felt.
That conversation didn’t end when the session did. It spilled into the corridor outside. People kept talking, exchanging cards, continuing debates. That space—unplanned, unscripted—was more valuable than anything happening on the expo floor.
I met the COO of a publisher there just by standing in that conversation. That doesn’t happen in scheduled meetings.
The side events told a similar story. Indie arcade parties, BYOG sessions, live performances like Austin Wintory’s concert—these were the places where energy lived. People weren’t performing professionalism. They were just talking about games they cared about, and things they were building.
That felt closer to what GDC used to represent.
I came to GDC with something I’ve started building—a platform where I write about indie games trying to find audiences across markets. Sitting in that roundtable, listening to developers from China and the West trying to understand each other, I felt something I didn’t expect: clarity.
Not because I have the answers.
But because the problem is real.
And the need is real—for someone who understands both sides, and shows up consistently.
I want to be that person.
GDC 2026 may not be the spectacle it once was. But for what I'm building, it was exactly the right room to be in
William Zou / Mar 19, 2026
Good games don't stop at borders
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