Winds of Change — GDC and The Future of The Games Industry

Published in

Coinmonks

3 min readMar 3, 2023

The video game industry is changing rapidly and there is no better example than the overwhelming presence of Web 3 at GDC 2023.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings the game development community together to exchange ideas, solve problems, and shape the future of the gaming industry.

I attended my first GDC last year when I began working in the gaming industry. It was the first GDC since the pandemic and I was told it was unlike any of the conferences from years prior.

I was expecting GDC to be a gaming-centric conference with a small contingent of Web 3 organizations trying to capture the attention of Web 2 gamers and game developers.

As I descended the escalator into the Moscone Center, I was pretty surprised to see the massive presence from Gala Games. They had practically taken over an entire wing of the conference. I did not work at Gala at the time and had heard they were the leading organization in the Web 3 gaming scene.

Gala’s presence at GDC left no doubt.

Beyond Gala’s strong showing, the entire conference seemed to consist of mostly new Web 3 companies.

Blockchain integration seemed to be the prevailing narrative for the games industry and its future.

Although Web 2 gamers had no love for Web 3, the people who work in the industry seemed to understand that gaming as we knew it was about to change.

As things shape up for GDC 2023, it looks like the Web 3 presence will be stronger than ever with more than 20 sessions dedicated to blockchain gaming.

Moreover, there will be a slew of phenomenal Web3 organizations that will be in attendance including:

✅ Polygon Labs
✅ Avalanche
✅ Bullieverse
✅ ConsenSys
✅ Immutable
✅ and Aurory

I also have to shout out my friends at Chainlink Labs. We will be demoing a Gala title at their booth so keep an eye out and come say hello.

There are also many notable Web 2 gaming organizations that will reveal their plans for Web 3 expansion in more detail like Nexon America.

They are hosting a session to discuss their upcoming game Maple Story Universe.

The session is titled: ‘MapleStory Universe’: Perfecting the Core MMORPG Experience with Blockchain

This is Nexon’s foray into the Web 3 MMORPG space and a considerable move by an established Web 2 gaming organization.

Finally, I am excited to showcase some of the amazing titles from Gala Games.

We will be hosting a private room accessible to friends, industry partners, and the press. We have been quietly building these past few months and have some amazing new updates to share with the gaming community.

Drop me a comment and let me know if you would like to connect.

Although GDC is intended to advance gaming as a whole it’s starting to feel like a Web 3 gaming conference given the current zeitgeist.

The gaming industry is changing rapidly and Web 3 is leading the way.

I will see you in San Francisco.

Cheers,

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