2026 Game Developers Conference experienced a significant drop in attendance and lost approximately a third of visitors. Industry observers cited several Trump administration policies as key reasons for the downward trend, noting that this year's GDC was also weighed down by some organizational decisions.
The decline was not unexpected, as it had been expected before the latest edition of the conference, which was held in San Francisco from March 9 to 13. In the weeks leading up to the event, several developers said they were skipping GDC 2026 due to security concerns stemming from ICE activity in the United States and other US immigration policies they described as hostile to international visitors.
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GDC 2026 suffers a 33% drop in attendance
In total, GDC 2026 hosted approximately 20,000 attendees, as recently revealed by organizer Informa PLC. That number represents a 33% drop from the 2024 and 2025 San Francisco editions of the event, which both drew nearly 30,000 people, according to official post-show summaries and local reports. Informa also reported that the 2026 event included more than 700 sessions, 1,100 speakers, more than 300 exhibitors as well as visitors from more than 85 countries. Compared to 2025, the number of speakers increased by 10%, while sessions and exhibitors decreased by 7% and 25%, respectively.
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According to several industry observers, the lower voter turnout reflects a combination of political, economic and concrete events. The San Francisco Chronicle linked the decline to widespread layoffs in the gaming industry and what it described as the Trump administration's hostility toward international visitors. Separately, PocketGamer.biz pointed to reduced exhibitor presence, shrinking exhibit space, and long-term concerns about the cost of attending the San Francisco show.
The Iran war reportedly led to the last-minute cancellation of GDC 2026
In addition to earlier concerns about ICE activity and US immigration policy, the ongoing Iran war also appears to have weighed on participation. With the conflict escalating in the Middle East, as first reported by The Game Business, there have been several major cancellations and cancellations of attendees at the last minute. Logistically, the war has also disrupted travel, prompting widespread flight cancellations, regional airspace closures and restrictions at major hubs including Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai. The disruption affected international travel corridors in the weeks leading up to GDC 2026.
GDC 2026 vs GDC 2025 Comparison
|
GDC 2025 |
GDC 2026 |
Year-on-year change |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Participants |
30,000 |
20,000 |
-33% |
|
Loudspeakers |
1000 |
1,100 |
+10% |
|
Sessions |
750 |
700 |
-6.66% |
|
Exhibitors |
400 |
300 |
-25% |
The weaker financial background of the industry also made the conference more exposed than in recent years. The GDC 2026 State of the Industry report found that one-third of game development professionals surveyed had been laid off in the previous two years, while those interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle said traveling to California no longer made sense for many developers who were based far from the Bay Area, out of work, or both. The main lecture from Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima, one of the most anticipated events in the original GDC 2026 schedule, was also canceled ahead of the conference. No reason was given for the cancellation, which was confirmed in early February.
Due to the smaller scale, GDC 2026 did not use the North Hall of the Moscone Convention Center for the first time in years. The official attendance of 20,000 means that this year's event was the smallest traditional show in recent years. GDC 2022 officially drew fewer attendees, but that was largely because it was a hybrid event with 12,000 in-person attendees and 5,000 virtual attendees. The last traditional GDC with 20,000 attendance was 2011, which drew more than 19,000 attendees.
Sources: Reuters, GDC / Informa PLC, GDC 2026 State of the Industry
