This year's GDC is so different…

It was already evening in San Francisco, and the first day of GDC 2026 had largely come to a close. While chatting with Tea House Guy outside the venue, several industry veterans who have attended GDC for many years all remarked in unison: “This year’s GDC has really changed a lot.”

First, the “facade” has changed. The organizers have rebranded the event—which has been running for decades—as the “GDC Festival of Gaming,” and the classic bold-type logo has been replaced with a more youthful design featuring white text on a red background.

The pricing structure has also undergone a major overhaul—everyone must now purchase a Festival Pass, which starts at $649, to gain entry. As a result, the crowds at Yerba Buena Gardens—which are usually packed to the brim with developers every year around noon—were noticeably thinner this year.

However, if you shift your gaze from the main venue to the surrounding area, another familiar scene remains. The Marriott Marquis and the InterContinental Hotel—those “second venues” where industry insiders meet, discuss partnerships, and network—are still bustling with activity this year.

If you want to meet the most influential figures in the global gaming industry, hear about cutting-edge technologies, and get a sense of where the industry is headed—you simply have to attend GDC. As the world’s premier conference for gaming professionals, it remains the most direct window into the industry’s health—perhaps the only one of its kind.

To sum it up briefly, here are the three keywords that are currently the most noteworthy at this year’s GDC.

First, of course, is AI.

As soon as the doors to South Hall swung open, the Xbox booth was on the left, while a Chinese 3D large-model developer had secured a prime spot on the right. A presentation on AI gaming by a Google DeepMind expert drew an exceptionally large crowd: even after the auditorium was filled to capacity and the doors were closed, hundreds of people were still lined up outside.

Looking at the agenda as a whole, the number of AI-related presentations this year has increased significantly compared to last year.

But the question remains a very real one: How exactly will AI in gaming evolve? When will the true “AI era” for the gaming industry arrive? At present, no one can give a definitive answer.

Developers around the world seem to be walking through a fog—everyone is waiting for that moment when the mist clears and the treasure chest is revealed.

The second keyword is Chinese games.

This year, the "Big Four"—Tencent, NetEase, Mi, and Didi—all made a collective appearance, showcasing their flagship products. On the first day of the event, the technical presentation on miHoYo’s *Genshin Impact*: "The Realm of a Thousand Stars" was packed to capacity.

Tencent Games pulled out all the stops: today alone, they organized 11 technical and product sessions covering a wide range of topics, including AI, audio, and anti-cheating. The most popular session drew such a large crowd that the line wound all the way around the second floor and stretched all the way down to the first floor.

When the main stage area opens on the third day of the expo, booths from more than a dozen Chinese companies will make a collective appearance, effectively forming a “ring” around the venue. In a sense, Chinese game developers are gradually turning the international stage into their own home turf.

The third key factor is the uncertainty brought about by industry transformation.

During a presentation for *Operation Delta*, a very serious foreign guy was sitting next to me, clutching his iPad and taking notes nonstop.

After chatting for a bit, I found out that he’s an indie developer of single-player shooter games who knows next to nothing about GaaS (Games as a Service). He came here specifically to “learn the ropes” and figure out the ins and outs of GaaS.

At the *Battlefield 6* presentation, however, the situation was exactly the opposite: several designers from major Chinese game studios were sitting in the audience, listening intently as they sought to learn from this classic console shooter how to create top-notch gameplay and high-quality content.

The times are pushing developers forward, forcing them to step outside their comfort zones and explore fields that were once completely unfamiliar to them.

Ultimately, in this era of unprecedented prosperity for the gaming industry, the forms of gaming are becoming increasingly diverse. Single-player games must compete on the strength of their service capabilities, while service-oriented games are placing greater emphasis on content quality.

More and more developers are realizing that only by making their skill sets more “complex” and diverse can they adapt to an era in which traditional approaches and business models are constantly being disrupted.

Of course, what we’ve seen so far is just a taste of things to come. Here’s a little sneak peek: over the next few days, the real highlights of GDC are just getting started.

As for domestic developers, NetEase’s *Sixteen Sounds of Yan Yun* and *Marvel Showdown*, as well as Paper Games’ *Love & Deep Space* and *Infinite Nami*, are all set to feature in major presentations.

Over the next week, Tea House will continue to bring you in-depth insights and special reports straight from the GDC—there’s still plenty more to come from this GDC trip.