GDC Courses

Play With Your Audience - Enhancing Your Social Strategy Through Theater

Discover how theatrical techniques can elevate your social media strategy, fostering playful connections with gaming communities and boosting brand awareness organically.

• YouTube
• 28 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Finding Inspiration and Planning Luck - A Story of a Solo Dev-Dad of Color

Adam Kareem shares his journey from solo game dev hobbyist to landing a publishing deal, offering insights on inspiration, perseverance, and balancing family life while creating a Mega Man X-inspired platformer.

• YouTube
• 33 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Open Salaries - Ensuring Equitable Pay Through Pay Transparency

Explore the benefits and challenges of open salary practices in companies, with insights from Lightforge Games' three-year experience implementing pay transparency.

• YouTube
• 31 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Advocacy Microtalks - Cultivate Your Karass

Six game creators challenge norms, advocating for expanded possibilities in game development and design through thought-provoking microtalks that range from serious to silly, encouraging community engagement and debate.

• YouTube
• 57 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

You Have No Idea How Hard It Is To Run a Sweatshop

Explore game design's impact on society, intentionality in creation, and the power of games to convey messages. Delve into diverse topics while examining how to craft meaningful, purposeful gaming experiences.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 3 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Script Murders - The Form and Design of the Most Popular Tabletop Genre in China

Explore the evolution and design of script murder games in China, from their Western origins to diverse genres like joy, emotion, and horror, offering insights for game developers.

• YouTube
• 31 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Gorillaz, Monkees, K/DA, and OFK - Creating Virtual Identity

Explore the evolution of virtual identity in media, from 1960s TV to modern VTubers. Learn design techniques and social priorities behind creating virtual bands and characters.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

How 'Fortnite' Designers Made Their Own Tools

Discover how Fortnite's quest team overcame challenges by empowering designers to create and edit their own tools using Blueprint-driven Editor Utility Widgets in Unreal Engine, enhancing efficiency and flexibility.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

To the Beat Y'all - What Designers Can Learn From Hip Hop

Explore hip hop's literary techniques and their application to game story structure and dialogue, focusing on economy of language, terminology, and language hierarchy in both music and game design.

• YouTube
• 28 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Acquiring Game Design Skills Beyond Entertainment

Explore game design beyond entertainment, focusing on applications in medicine, education, and training. Learn key strategies for adapting skills to new challenges and evolving fields.

• YouTube
• 35 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

The Design of HoloVista - Crafting Mechanics for Immersive Storytelling

Explore the collaborative design process behind HoloVista, from initial concept to final production pivots, revealing insights into crafting mechanics for immersive storytelling in award-winning games.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Occupational Burnout in Games - Causes, Impact, and Solutions

Explore occupational burnout in the gaming industry, its causes, long-term effects, and strategies for resilience. Gain insights from personal experiences and learn implementable steps to combat this pervasive issue.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Lost XP - Why Junior Game Developers Quit and How to Help

Explore empirical data and solutions to retain talented junior game developers in the industry, addressing challenges and interventions for a more diverse and sustainable workforce.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 2 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

The Cinematics of Horizon Forbidden West

Exclusive breakdown of key scenes, principles, and tools used to create 22 hours of high-fidelity cinematic content in Horizon Forbidden West's open world, showcasing the game's visual excellence.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

The Golden Rule of Game Promotion - No One Cares About Your Game

Discover how the "no one cares about your game" mindset can sharpen your marketing strategy, improve social media presence, and create impactful PR campaigns for game promotion.

• YouTube
• 31 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk