For the first time in many years Game Developers Conference (GDC) is undergoing a major content and pricing overhaul that will shape the future of the event. Today GDC, which is owned by Game Developer parent company Informa, unveiled the new "reimagined" conference known as "GDC Festival of Gaming," bringing with it a shift in event structure designed to "meet today's broader, interconnected games industry."

A major component of this transformation is a simplified pass structure that offers equal access to sessions and networking events to all attendees. The new event pass starts at $649, though indies, start-ups, and academics can apply for discounts that lower the price by another $200-$300.

In this new form, the event aims to serve game makers "across every stage of a game's life cycle," and debuts with a particular focus on providing game industry professionals with new networking opportunities, redesigned conference content, improved pass pricing, and more.

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Conference organizers state that these changes are "informed and inspired by feedback from the community." In a statement, GDC executive director of innovation and growth Mark DeLoura commented that this transformation is taking place during "a time of great change" in the video game industry.

"We can build walls or build bridges—and the game industry has always thrived by coming together," says DeLoura.

As mentioned above, the event's new "Festival Pass" replaces the All-Access pass from prior years and costs 45 percent less than its predecessor, starting as low as $649 and granting access to the entirety of the event's main content programming.

This means that all attendees with a Festival Pass in hand will have equal access to the GDC expo hall (now named "Festival Hall") and content programming throughout the week, a departure from previous GDC events where access to main conference content was segmented by pass type, track, or day of the week.

According to the announcement, GDC also plans to offer support to early-stage indies, start-ups, and members of the academic community through programs that further reduce the Festival Pass pricetag by $200-$300.

The new Festival Pass is one of only three overall pass types unveiled by GDC today. One, a new "Digital Pass", allows developers not making the trek to San Francisco to access online-only networking during GDC and GDC Vault content for $799.

The other new pass type, the "Game Changer Pass", starts at $1,699 and brings all that the Festival Pass has to offer in addition access to all new show features and more. Those include the "GamePlan" facilitated meetings program, an invite-only arrangement promising pre-scheduled meetings with key industry stakeholders, and the all new "Luminaries Speaker Series", an executive-level content program held at the Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA near the Moscone Center.

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Going beyond just pricing, today's Festival of Gaming announcement gives developers a closer look at what to expect from an overhauled event. According to organizers, GDC Festival of Gaming aims to serve what they call "the global B2B game ecosystem," which includes "game-makers, publishers, distributors, investors, founders, technologists, toolmakers, marketers, educators, and media."

The reimagined approach to sessions "[goes] beyond discipline-specific learning for game makers," with lectures, panels, mixers, workshops, and other events aimed at industry professionals of all stripes. This "Unified Content Program" spans all five days of GDC and is available to any attendee with a Festival Pass. Event staples like postmortems and technical sessions are now joined by "interactive content" that aims to bridge the gap between industry disciplines.

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A similar spirit fuels the return of GDC Nights and the redesigned Expo Hall, now known as the "Festival Hall." These spaces offer developers opportunities to connect through demos, micro-sessions, and social spaces designed around themes of game development, future tech, indie & education, international, monetization & player engagement.

In a statement, GDC president Nina Brown described the new event as "celebrating the vital interconnection between creators, leaders, and partners that drive the industry forward."

"This new era is rooted in dialogue with our community," she continued. "And its only the beginning."

Game Developer and GDC are sibling organizations under Informa Festivals.