This article was originally published on March 13, 2026 - read the full issue

By Tyler Wilde

There are two GDCs. At one, I can spend 20 minutes talking to strategy game maestro Soren Johnson about the art of writing good randomised events, and then attend a panel on the audio design of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 or open-source game engine Godot. At the other, the money is talking.

Tucked away in a quiet theatre adjacent to, but separate from, the bustle of the main event, representatives from Nvidia, Google, Roblox, Tencent, Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group, and various venture capital firms have been discussing the latest trends in generative AI, monetisation, and "driving player engagement," asking questions that would make many of the attendees on the other side of GDC grimace, such as whether putting advertisements in PC and console games is a good idea. (You'll never guess where some of them land on that.)

The big topic is, of course, generative AI, about which the money is unsurprisingly enthusiastic. At one session, panelists mused about the possibilities presented by AI world models such as Google's Project Genie, and whether they might be combined with old-fashioned game engines to solve their tendency to lose continuity.

Nvidia DLSS pioneer Bryan Catanzaro suggested that it probably won't make sense to run such world models on home hardware, because "AI is fundamentally much more efficient in the cloud." In that case, it's perhaps convenient for AI interests that the RAM crisis caused by AI datacentres themselves is making it harder for PC gamers to buy hardware, and has led Valve to delay the launch of its new Steam Machines.

The money is well aware that its generative AI fixation is unpopular. Kabir Ahuja of consulting firm McKinsey & Co was happy to report that one of his company's recent surveys found that 29 per cent of consumers support the use of generative AI in game development so long as it doesn't result in job losses for human developers. Don't worry too much about the 24 per cent who said that generative AI should never be used in games: that number is declining, he said.

Regarding resistance to generative AI from game developers themselves – who might reasonably wonder whether it's sensible to talk about 'AI that doesn't lead to job losses' – big tech's representatives are varyingly diplomatic and defensive.

The most direct statement I heard came from Lightspeed Venture Partners head of gaming Moritz Baier-Lentz, who said that he's "shocked and sad" about the negative sentiment around generative AI in the videogame industry, accusing the collective of putting its head in the sand rather than advancing a "marvellous new technology." He reckons the negativity stems from fear of job losses following record layoffs.

Over in the other GDC – the one experiencing record job losses – negative AI sentiment is easy to come by. A recent survey of game industry professionals published by GDC itself found that 52 per cent of them think generative AI is having a negative effect on the industry. Only seven per cent agreed with the opposite opinion, that it's good for the industry. "I'd rather quit the industry than use generative AI," one respondent said.

The AI complaints aren't just about jobs, but I can't imagine ongoing layoffs are helping. Just hours before I attended a session about the design of Battlefield 6, EA laid off an undisclosed number of employees from across its Battlefield studios. The game sold more than seven million copies in its first three days. No wonder unionisation has been an increasingly prominent subject at GDC over the past few years.

It may be some small consolation to the big tech critics at the event that the NFT pushers aren't on the scene any more. GDC 2026 is the first since 2017 not to feature any talks about the future of blockchain gaming. Rather than crypto startups, though, the smaller-than-usual expo floor is now host to half-a-dozen companies whose names end in "AI."

The fun stuff is still around, such as the alt.ctrl.GDC booth, which features games played with custom controllers. This year's selection includes a hamster-ball treadmill, a giant pair of scissors, and an actual couch that two players have to lift and manipulate to manoeuvre a virtual couch through tight spaces. I didn't attend, but I also heard good things about a concert led by composer Austin Wintory.

There are still lots of people having fun making and talking about videogames, but the industry is also anxious and divided, so much so that even GDC's decision to loosely pen in a ring of food stalls on a nearby patch of grass has been a topic of some controversy, perceived as an imposition on an informal meeting space by the powers that be. I'm sure someone will spin up a survey about it before next year.

This article was originally published on March 13, 2026 - read the full issue