GDC Courses

Design in Detail

Explore detail-oriented game design principles applicable across genres and generations, focusing on significance, power, subtlety, portability, and manageability of details in game development.

• YouTube
• 59 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Breaking Through - Psychosis and the Making of Hellblade

Explore Ninja Theory's innovative approach to depicting psychosis in game development, focusing on research, collaboration, and pushing narrative boundaries in AAA-quality production.

• YouTube
• 1 hour
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

How to Find and Engage a Great Artist - A Non-Artist Primer

Discover strategies for finding and collaborating with talented artists to enhance your indie game's visual appeal. Learn about compensation, search methods, and key considerations.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

How to Build a Remote Team for Better Happiness

Discover strategies for building a successful remote team, enhancing work-life balance, and leveraging technology to foster a positive company culture across borders.

• YouTube
• 34 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Ahead of the Curve - The SpaceChem Postmortem

Explore SpaceChem's unique design-based puzzle mechanics, community features, and development insights. Learn to create engaging puzzles and build player communities around them.

• YouTube
• 24 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

There's Goofs in Them Thar Hills - The West of Loathing Approach to Comedy in Games

Explore comedy in video games with West of Loathing's creative director, covering techniques, advantages, and challenges in crafting humor for interactive experiences.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Procedurally Generating History in Caves of Qud

Explore procedural history generation in game design, focusing on Caves of Qud's innovative approach to creating dynamic, rationalized historical events without full simulation.

• YouTube
• 31 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Democratizing Real-Time Filmmaking Technologies for Indie Game Developers

Explore democratizing real-time VFX and virtual production tools for indie game developers, covering curriculum updates, cost reduction, and quality preservation.

• YouTube
• 16 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Networking Etiquette for the Modern Games Industry Professional

Learn essential networking skills for game industry professionals, including conversation tips, types of networking, and strategies for making meaningful connections.

• YouTube
• 20 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

No Man's Sky - Grit

Sean Murray shares insights on Hello Games' journey through No Man's Sky's tumultuous launch, detailing how the team's resilience and focus on improvement led to record player numbers and positive reception.

• YouTube
• 19 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Finding Harmony in Anime Style and Physically Based Rendering

Explore rendering techniques for creating physics-based anime-style worlds in games. Learn about deferred rendering, lighting, shadowing, and post-processing to blend modern graphics with toon shading.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Sunless Skies - A Narrative Postmortem

Explore the narrative development of 'Sunless Skies', from concept to execution. Learn strategies for crafting compelling stories, managing consultations, and overcoming challenges in game writing.

• YouTube
• 55 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Building the World of 'The Ascent'

Explore Neon Giant's approach to 3D content creation, level building, and stylistic challenges in developing 'The Ascent', from modeling to lighting and world assembly.

• YouTube
• 52 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

Don't Make My Job Easy - Effectively Pitching to Publishers

Discover insider tips for crafting compelling game pitches to publishers. Learn to optimize your approach, understand decision-making processes, and increase your chances of securing a publishing deal.

• YouTube
• 31 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk

How Web3 Games Work - and Sadly Don't

Explore Web3 gaming's potential and pitfalls, from controversial monetization schemes to innovative independent projects, with insights on blockchain technology's impact on game development.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 1 minute
• Self-Paced
• Conference Talk