Amelia March: GDC 2018

Post date: Apr 06, 2018 8:4:58 PM

    As both a senior nearing graduation and a first-time Game Developer's Conference attendee, my conference experience was defined by both joy and enthusiasm at this newfound community of artists and creatives embracing diversity and exchanging ideas, and awareness of my position as a junior artist hoping to impress recruiters and improve my portfolio. 

    As a first-time GDC attendee, I had to quickly learn how to see myself not as a student trying to get something from those I connected with, but as a fellow artist having an honest discussion. With this change of mind came more opportunities and unforgettable experiences. For instance, on the last day of the Expo I had chosen to fully embrace the model of free-flowing conversation and random connections. Some chose not to attend the final day, having gotten "all they wanted" out of GDC, and some chose to wait in long lines hoping for a portfolio review. I ended up attending a round table discussion addressing gender and sexuality in games. To my pleasant surprise the event was popular, with attendees overflowing into chairs outside of the round table, and eventually onto the floor. After several spirited discussions about issues like trans representation and the Psychology of Play, I realized that the room was filled with heavy hitters from games addressing love and relationships -- a writer from Bioware, the creator of Dream Daddy, and a producer from Square Enix who worked on both Life is Strange games. Life is Strange is my favorite game of all time, and a very meaningful one to me -- I started a conversation with him after the round-table that began with me acting almost starstruck, but ended with us speaking as equals about narrative paths taken in games, and the way player choice is handled in games like Life is Strange. Having a conversation and exchanging ideas with an idolized artist on an equal playing field is the kind of experience that is unique to GDC, and I'm thrilled to return next year to have more moments like this.

    I was also struck by the inclusion and acceptance of indie games and developers, as well as marginalized voices. I attended a panel about creating immersion through diversity in VR games which was comprised of three women -- one working at Turtle Rock Studios on a horror VR game, one working on a new singing-based game at Harmonix, and one working at Oculus and speaking about the Marvel game demo. It was impressive to me that a somewhat niche topic was covered at GDC, and that it was so well attended. The panelists spoke about how, especially in VR, it was important to include diverse avatars in your game so that everyone is similarly able to experience immersion. I also attended a talk by the creator of the indie title "Bury me, my love", a game about the experiences of Syrian migrants. The fact that a game which teaches empathy towards this vulnerable and marginalized population was given such a spotlight at GDC is amazing to me. The creator spoke about establishing a lack of control in the player through the game design; even a small, seemingly insignificant decision can have devastating consequences. This communicates that life is not fair, a feeling which is commonplace for migrants. Amplifying more voices and games like these is crucial to expanding the definitions of what games can be and what they can teach, and I'm pleased GDC is doing just that. Attending the Independent Games Festival and seeing the gratitude of the winners, as well as taking a stroll through Ctrl + Alt + GDC and seeing indie games with creative and unconventional controllers, was also a highlight of my "indie GDC" experience.

    GDC was an incredible and important experience for me; it solidified my want to be in the game development community, and it pleasantly surprised me with regards to its inclusion and elevation of voices. If all goes well, I will definitely be back next year.