GDC is a highlight of my year each and every year. 2024 was the 30th year I’ve attended, and 23rd consecutive year that I’ve lectured at GDC. Every year, it feels more and more like the world’s biggest class reunion, where I get to see and spend time with the remarkable folks I’ve made games with, learned from, worked alongside, or otherwise connected with over 3 decades in the videogames industry. This year was no exception; I got the chance to once again connect with a variety of friends - old and new - at a variety of points in their careers and from all over the industry.
2024 was a notable GDC in a number of ways. After years of canceled conferences and arduous entry requirements stemming from Covid-19, the conference finally felt like it was all the way back, with more than 30,000 attendees and a bustling expo floor.
On the other hand, the industry itself didn’t feel nearly all the way back at GDC. Best estimates are that the game industry shed around 10,000 jobs last year and layoffs have continued at a brisk pace in early 2024. In my large social circle, there are always some people who are looking for a new role, but this year there were far more people in that situation, and with more urgency. And they came from across all sectors of the industry - console, PC, mobile, and more.
But despite the challenges facing the industry - and especially those facing mobile gaming companies - we saw a lot of encouraging signs. The game industry remains vibrant, dynamic, and ever changing. There were a lot of companies in the mobile game space looking for expert help to get their projects on track. This isn’t the first conference in 2024 where we’ve connected with new and exciting teams, and we look forward to working with them on their projects.
I was surprised and pleased to meet a large number of developers from emerging markets ranging from Brazil to Vietnam who have had success making ad-monetized hypercasual games and are looking to play for higher stakes by making deeper, more sophisticated games with hybrid monetization and better retention. We are excited to help these studios achieve their goals, and think the ecosystem as a whole will benefit from the new and exciting ideas these teams from around the world will bring to bear.
I also spoke to a variety of PC developers who have seen their audiences shift from expecting a one-time release to demanding a living, breathing game that is receiving constant attention from the development team. Although not every lesson from mobile games will be relevant in the realm of PC gaming many of them will, and we look forward to helping these developers expand into the exciting world of games as a service.
I also saw some intriguing new types of game emerging (and re-emerging). There was far more talk about HTML5 games on the web than I’ve ever seen before, and blockchain gaming seems to be having another moment, ushering in a wave of far smarter, subtler implementations of web3 in games. I expect to see compelling (and very different) developments in both of these markets in the near future.
So looking back, GDC 2024 was great. This is in part because GDC is always great - the best place in industry to learn, connect, and grow. And in part because although there are many challenges facing the game industry in general and mobile games in particular, there are still tons of exciting new developments out there, and the Mobile Game Doctor team and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of them.
