GDC Courses

Three Steps to Becoming a Better Artist Immediately

Discover three actionable steps to instantly enhance your artistic skills, focusing on visual design, expression, and effective communication in game development.

• YouTube
• 28 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Building Headquarters - The Social Hub in Call of Duty WWII

Explore the creation of Headquarters, a 48-player social hub in Call of Duty WWII, featuring interactive storefronts, minigames, and community engagement opportunities.

• YouTube
• 27 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Narrative Nuances on Free-to-Play Mobile Games

Explore techniques for crafting compelling narratives in free-to-play mobile games, focusing on audience engagement, pay-offs, and unique storytelling approaches for the platform.

• YouTube
• 58 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Whose Game Is It, Anyway? How Community Relationships Shape Games - Lessons from Warframe

Explore how Warframe's success stems from strategic community engagement, balancing feedback, and evolving game-as-a-service strategies in this insightful Digital Extremes presentation.

• YouTube
• 57 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

How the Speed Cubing Community Turned Rubik's Cube into a Competitive Genre

Explore the transformation of Rubik's Cube into a competitive sport, examining organization, innovation, and community-building strategies in speed cubing.

• YouTube
• 34 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Triage on the Front Line - Improving Mafia III AI in a Live Product

Discover techniques for enhancing AI in live games, focusing on Mafia III's enemy reactions and testing methods to improve player experience.

• YouTube
• 28 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Winding Road Ahead - Designing Utility AI with Curvature

Explore intuitive AI behavior design using curvature in utility systems. Learn knowledge representation, influence data, and natural language considerations for creating dynamic game characters.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

What Successful Product Managers Do Differently in Free-to-Play Games

Explore key strategies successful product managers employ in free-to-play games, focusing on core loops, data analysis, and leveraging knowledge for improved game performance and player engagement.

• YouTube
• 28 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

The Reinvention of Tomb Raider

Crystal Dynamics shares insights on modernizing Tomb Raider, focusing on survival elements, character development, and production strategies to create a compelling reboot of the iconic franchise.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 1 minute
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Crash Course in Online Features for Programmers

Explore essential online features for game programmers, from platform-provided tools to custom solutions, covering connectivity, data management, community building, and server infrastructure.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Cold, Hard Cache - Insomniac's Cache Simulator

Explore Insomniac Games' Cache Simulator tool for optimizing CPU code performance and gaining insights into cache utilization in game development.

• YouTube
• 32 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

How to Reduce In-Game Inflation by Monitoring Your Economic Systems

Learn strategies to monitor and control in-game inflation in MMORPGs, focusing on economic systems, currency issuance, item production, and player population dynamics.

• YouTube
• 22 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Character Control with Neural Networks and Machine Learning

Explore data-driven animation systems using neural networks and machine learning to simplify character control in game development, reducing complexity and resource requirements.

• YouTube
• 54 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

The Lighting Technology of Detroit - Become Human

Explore Quantic Dream's transition to photometric lighting in Detroit: Become Human, covering PBR, material calibration, volumetric lighting, and irradiance techniques for enhanced realism.

• YouTube
• 53 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk

Designing for Multiple Minds - Crafting the Craft of Player Dynamics

Explore player dynamics design, focusing on enhancing interactions and motivations in games. Learn strategies for cohesion, cognitive biases, and creating positive player experiences.

• YouTube
• 43 minutes
• On-Demand
• Conference Talk