GDC 2020 virtual talks, livestream schedule, and how to watch

Published , by Sam Chandler

Instead of a public event, GDC 2020 is going virtual. For this week, would-be attendees can enjoy GDC 2020 from the comfort of their own homes with virtual talks, awards livestreams, and more. This will be a free event, so all should take this opportunity to watch and learn!

Watch the GDC 2020 livestream here

GDC is a major event that sees developers from all over the world meet up to host panels, show progress of their games, and reveal new products in development. With the coronavirus becoming a pandemic, and several gaming events being canceled, GDC 2020 has shifted to a livestream event. Everyone can tune in, for free, to see all manner of content.

The GDC 2020 livestreams are scheduled to take place between 9:00AM and 5:00PM PT / 12:00PM and 8:00PM ET each day this week, starting on Monday, March 16 and going through Friday, March 20. Check out the livestream below:

Watch live video from GDC on www.twitch.tv

There will be a lot of excellent talks to be heard over the coming week, with the GDC page highlighting a few:

“Expect to enjoy some expert talks from studios like 343 Industries, Playground Games, BioWare, Gearbox and more, as well as insightful behind-the-scenes explorations of notable indie games like Baba Is You, A Short Hike, and Kine.”

Aside from the talks, there will also be a stream for the Independent Games Festival and Games Developers Choice Awards starting at 5:00PM PT / 8:00PM ET on Wednesday, March 18.


GDC 2020 livestream schedule

The following is the daily schedule for the GDC 2020 livestream. This information is thanks to the GDC 2020 page. Most days this week will conclude aroung 5PM with Wednesday running later thanks to the aforementioned awards night and Friday, which ends a bit early.

Monday, March 16

Monday, March 16
Time Title Topic Talker(s)
9:00AM-9:30AM The "Kine" Postmortem Independent games Gwen Frey (President, Chump Squad)
10:00AM-10:30AM Storytelling with Verbs: Integrating Gameplay and Narrative Game Narrative Kaitlin Tremblay (Writer & Narrative Designer, Capybara Games)
11:00AM-11:30AM Intrinsically Motivated Teams: The Manager's Toolbox Production and Team Management Alexandre Moufarek (Product Manager, DeepMind)
12:00PM-12:30PM From "Assassin's Creed" to "The Dark Eye": The Importance of Themes Audio Winifred Phillips (Composer, Generations Productions LLC)
1:00PM-1:30PM Representing LGBT+ Characters in Games: Two Cases Studies Advocacy, Design Tori Schafer (Writer & Designer, Proletariat)
2:00PM-3:00PM The Sound of Anthem Audio Cody Behiel (Audio Lead, Electronic Arts BioWare), Eric Vervaet (Director of Audio, Electronic Arts BioWare)
3:00PM-3:30PM Is Your Game Cross-Platform Ready? Programming Raymond Arifianto (VP of Tech, AccelByte)
4:00pm-4:30pm Forgiveness Mechanics: Reading Minds for Responsive Gameplay Design Seth Coster (CEO & Game Programmer, Butterscotch Shenanigans, Inc)
4:30pm (microtalk) Experimental AI Lightning Talk: Hyper Realistic Artificial Voices for Games Programming Zeena Qureshi (Co-Founder & CEO, Sonantic)

Tuesday, March 17

Tuesday, March 17
Time Title Topic Talker(s)
9:00am-9:50am What to Write So People Buy: Selling Your Game Without Feeling Sleazy Business & Marketing Chris Zukowski (Founder, Return To Adventure Mountain)
9:50am (microtalk) Failure Workshop: FutureGrind: How To Make A 6-Month Game In Only 4.5 Years Independent Games Owen Goss (Co-Founder, Milkbag Games)
10:00am-11:00am Stress-Free Game Development: Powering Up Your Studio With DevOps Production & Team Management Seth Coster (CEO & Game Programmer, Butterscotch Shenanigans, Inc)
11:00am-11:30am Baked in Accessibility: How Features Were Approached in 'Borderlands 3' Design Andrew Bair (Lead UI Programmer, Gearbox Software)
12:00pm-1:00pm Matchmaking for Engagement: Lessons from 'Halo 5' Design Josh Menke (Lead Engagement Designer, 343 Industries)
1:00pm-1:30pm Forget CPI: Dynamic Mobile Marketing Free to Play Heather Gainer (Marketing Manager User Acquisition, Kongregate)
2:00pm-2:30pm Integrating Sound Healing Methodologies Into Your Workflow Audio Matt Levine (Uncle Vector's Audio Lab LLC)
3:00pm-3:30pm From 0-1000: A Test Driven Approach to Tools Development Programming David Paris (Senior Engineer, Playground Games)
4:00pm-4:30pm Overcoming Creative Block on 'Super Crush KO' Independent Games Gabby DaRienzo (Senior Artist, Drinkbox Studios)
4:30pm (microtalk) When Film, Games, and Theatre Collide Independent Games Sarah Scialli (Game Director & Mocap Engineer, Tinted Stardust & DreamWorks)

Wednesday, March 18

Wednesday, March 18
Time Title Topic Talker(s)
9:00am-10:00am Bringing Replays to 'World of Tanks: Mercenaries' Programming Andrew Glover (Lead Software Engineer, Wargaming Sydney)
10:00am-10:30am Developing and Running Neural Audio in Constrained Environments Programming Carter Huffman (Co-Founder & CTO, Modulate.ai), Brendan Kelly (Research Engineer, Modulate.ai)
11:00am-12:00pm Mental Health State of the Industry: Past, Present & Future Advocacy Eve Crevoshay (Executive Director, Take This)
12:00pm-12:30pm Empathizing with Steam: How People Shop for Your Game Independent Games Chris Zukowski (Game Designer & Marketing Consultant, Return To Adventure Mountain LLC)
1:00pm-1:30pm Scaling to 10 Concurrent Users: Online Infrastructure as an Indie Programming Andrew Erridge (Software Engineer & Cofounder, Gamebreaking Studios)
2:00pm-2:30pm Crafting A Tiny Open World: 'A Short Hike' Postmortem Independent Games Adam Robinson-Yu (Developer, Independent)
2:30pm
(microtalk)
Indie Soapbox: UI design is fun! Independent Games Nathalie Lawhead (Independent Game Designer, Alienmelon)
3:00pm-3:30pm Don't Ship a Product, Ship Value: Start Your Minimum Viable Product With a Solution Production & Team Management Janessa Olson (Product Manager, Data & Tools, Kongregate)
4:00pm-5:00pm Day of the Devs: GDC Edition Direct Double Fine & iam8bit
5:00pm-7:00pm Independent Games Festival & Game Developers Choice Awards Trent Kusters (IGF) and Kim Swift (GDCA)

Thursday, March 19

Thursday, March 19
Time Title Topic Talker(s)
9:00am-10:00am Machine Learning for Optimal Matchmaking Programming Josh Menke (Lead Engagement Designer, 343 Industries)
10:00am-10:30am Skill Progression, Visual Attention, and Efficiently Getting Good at Esports Esports Dr. Anders Frank (Game Experience Researcher, Tobii)
11:00am-11:30am Making Your Game Influencer Ready: A Marketing Wishlist for Developers Business & Marketing David Ortiz Lapaz (Communications Director, ICO Partners)
12:00pm-1:00pm How to Run Your Own Career Fair on a Tiny Budget Special Event Chris DeLeon (Independent Educator & Game Developer, Gamkedo LLC), Dru Erridge (Software Engineer & Cofounder, Gamebreaking Studios), David Mullich (Adjunct Professor, ArtCenter College of Design), Tiffany Otto (Director of Partnership & Sponsorship, IndieCade)
1:00pm-1:30pm Making a Healthy Social Impact in Commercial Games Advocacy Jennifer Estaris (Game Director, Sybo Games)
2:00pm-2:30pm 'Forza' Monthly: Live Streaming a Franchise Business & Marketing Shay Goldenberg (Producer, Turn 10 Studios / Microsoft)
3:00pm-3:30pm Aesthetic Driven Development: Choosing Your Art Before Making a Game Business & Marketing Vladimir Slav (Owner & Director, Coldwild Games)
4:00pm-5:00pm Reading the Rules of 'Baba Is You' Design Arvi Teikari (Game Developer, Hempuli Oy)

Friday, March 20

Friday, March 20
Time Title Topic Talker(s)
9:00am-10:00am Beyond Games as a Service with Live Ops Design Crystin Cox (Director of Live Operations, Microsoft)
10:00am-10:30am Kill the Hero, Save the (Narrative) World Game Narrative Hannah Nicklin (Studio Lead, Narrative Designer & Writer, Die Gute Fabrik)

This is a great solution to a pretty world-changing problem. While it is disappointing attendees won’t be able to mingle with others in the industry, this is at least one way for developers to get the word out about their games and ideas. Be sure to keep it locked to Shacknews for continue GDC 2020 coverage!