It was the day before the big 2024 Game Developers Conference here in sunny San Francisco, and already the city was buzzing with all things game development.
From special showcases to networking events, here’s a quick recap of all that happened on GDC: Day Zero!
It’s Day of the Devs!
After running into a few studio founder friends from a yet to be announced studio and LinkedIn network peers at my hotel lobby …
(and saying hi to Sydney while trying very hard not to pet her),
… I took the San Francisco Muni Rail Train 30 minutes South to The Midway.
The music venue was located in the Bayview neighborhood, and had been taken over by Double Fine Studios and media production company iam8bit for a Day of the Devs showcase event.
Once I got inside, it was all games-games-games. Rooms and walls were filled with screens upon screens of playable indie studio demos.
I even happened across a few titles I recognized!
After pausing to watch people play a demo of The Isles of Sea & Sky (and snagging a flyer because the artwork on it was awesome), I walked around in hopes of seeing even more familiar titles among what felt like hundreds of studios packed into the music venue space.
One game that really caught my eye was Europa, and I stood for a while watching a young boy have fun playing as his guardian watched.
After that, I happened across Cataclismo’s Creative Director Vicent Ramírez- who was kind enough to briefly chat about the game!
We spoke about various gameplay elements, from resource collecting to the swarms and he spoke about the different difficulty levels that existed in the game and some additional aspects they were exploring for more hardcore, win/lose-all players.
As a game with RTS elements, he made it very clear that they went into building the game with a philosophy of accessibility. It was a game, he said, that would stay spectacular regardless of how easy or hard the player wanted it to be.
In much the similar tone, he spoke about many elements they tried to add at the beginning of game development. Some of which never made it to the game as they realized it felt too overwhelming, again going back to the idea of ensuring the game remained accessible, allowing people to build beautiful buildings without worry or stress.
There is even a checkpoint feature, in which even if the swarms destroyed everything – players could revert back to their last checkpoint instead of having to start all over again.
I stayed a little while longer watching people playing the demo before thanking Vicent and checking out more booths.
Just as I was heading out, I saw another game with an intriguing title, Selfloss, that has some beautiful artwork and narrative-style gamplay. So I snuck through a few people to grab one of the flyers as one of the reps was already deep in conversation with another person.
Developed by Goodwin Games, the game is “an emotional exploration game set in a whale-worshiping, slavic-inspired world.” Now I may need to add it to my own wishlist on Steam.
Supporting Indie Games
It was amazing being surrounded by all the hype and energy. While I do love my AAA and AA IPs, there is an intimate level of care, expansive diversity, and full-hearted passion that you can only find from smaller studios.
Now more than ever I have found myself looking at new ways to support our indies and startups. Attending these types of events is just one of many ways (the more important one being wishlisting and actually buying the games if they are something you would enjoy).
That being said, here are a few other interesting games I saw and checked out!
Mission Press Pass: Complete
I got to get a sneak peak inside the Moscone Center and as I walked inside, there was a notable feeling of people “getting ready” for the big day. GDC signs were everywhere, and a lot of people were milling around or hopping in and out as they grabbed their access badges.
Many were here in an effort of avoiding what I could only imagine would be insane lines the following day. I was hoping to give you a quick peek of the floor, but that will need to wait until Day One as it was clear people were still setting things up.
It took all of 5 minutes to get my official Media badge, and as someone who has never been to GDC before – it felt GREAT!
And to think – this is all Pre-GDC. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store. Be sure follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for some near real-time updates on what I’m get up to Day One of GDC 2024!
Are you here now or thinking of making the trip for GDC 2025? Tell us what you think! Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.
Featured Image: Jai V
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