GDC 2019: Google’s Play for Gaming Ubiquity, Rise of Ray Tracing, Store Wars
The Game Developers Conference finished up Friday evening, wrapping one of the most exciting GDCs in recent memory with Google’s splashy entrance into AAA video gaming, the emergence of real-time ray tracing as a compelling technology for film, TV, and games, and the growing war between two global estore powerhouses: Valve’s Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Those big announcements, proclamations, news, and game reveals were mixed in with a rich selection of talks that offered insight into the artistry, technology, and methodology of video game development. Talks included insight from Disney’s famed Imagineers, discussions of esports, deep dives into historically famous games and last year’s massive hits.
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And then there were the awards; celebrations of the past year’s biggest independent titles, the biggest mainstream hits, and a celebration of audio in game design.
Below you’ll find all of Variety’s coverage of this year’s Game Developers Conference to date, with much more to come.
Awards
‘God of War’ Named Game Developer Choice Awards Game of the Year
‘God of War’ Wins Six G.A.N.G. Awards, Including Audio of the Year
‘Return of the Obra Dinn’ Wins IGF Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Epic Versus Steam
Events, Library Overhaul Coming to Valve’s Steam Store
Epic Game Store Redesign, User Reviews, Gifting Inbound
Epic Talks Exclusives, Tencent, ‘Metro’ Backlash
Epic Store Won’t Sell Unrated, ‘Adults Only’ Games
Epic Gives Away Online Services Behind ‘Fortnite’
‘Control,’ ‘Outer Worlds,’ ‘Ancestors’ Among Dozen Games Coming to Epic Games Store
Epic Game Store Exclusives Coming to Humble Store
‘Heavy Rain,’ ‘Beyond Two Souls,’ ‘Detroit’ Coming to PC Via Epic Games Store
Epic Games Unveils $100 Million ‘MegaGrants’ for Film, Game, Other Creators
Games
Cinematic Platformer ‘Stela’ Focuses on Depth, Mystery
Vertigo Games Believes ‘Location-Based Virtual Reality’ Is Future of VR
‘After Party’ Builds Off of ‘Oxenfree’ Design to Create Hellish, Hilarious Gameplay
How ‘Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2’ Builds on Series’ Legacy
‘Speaking Simulator’ and the Fine Art of Talking
Rebellion Is Putting Players Back Behind Enemy Lines in Remastered ‘Sniper Elite V2’
‘Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden’ Coming to Nintendo Switch
After ‘Dead Cells,’ Developer Motion Twin Is Open to Anything
Magic Leap Unveils Latest Multiplayer VR Prototype at GDC 2019
‘System Shock 3’ Gets Brief Teaser (Watch)
‘Call of Duty: Mobile’ Public Beta Hits This Summer (Watch)
Supernova Uses Funding, Leadership Coaching to Reduce Risk of Game Development
Ray Tracing
Nvidia’s Big Bet on Ray Tracing Pays Off
Unreal Unveils Astounding Real-Time Cinematic Tech Demo ‘Troll’ (Watch)
Unity Pushes For Unreal Parity as Next-Gen Approaches
Unity’s Latest Demo is Visually Stunning ‘The Heretic’ (Watch)
Stadia
Google Stadia is a Net Neutrality Nightmare
Google’s Cloud Platform Pushes Into AAA, Stadia Won’t Require Its Use
Game Industry Has Mixed Reactions to Google Stadia
Google’s Stadia Aims to Turn Any Screen Into a Powerful Gaming Console
Watch Google’s Game Stream Tech Unveiling Live Here
Google Pop-Up Museum Teases New Logo, Possible Gaming Hardware
Talks
What Game Workers Can Learn From Other Labor Organizations
‘Pokemon Go’ Creator on Augmented Reality’s Massive Potential
Ex-Westwood Devs Reminisce About Making Original ‘Command & Conquer’
To Survive, ‘EverQuest’ Must Honor Past, Embrace Future
Disney Parks Attraction Creators Compare Crafting Video Games With Real-World Experiences
Xbox Woos Mobile Developers With Xbox Live Functionality
How to Build an Inclusive Game Studio Culture
‘Astro Bot Rescue Bot’ Creator Explains Celebrated VR Game
9 Games Industry Veterans Offer Insight at GDC Microtalks
‘Tetris Effect’s’ Development Was Anything but Zen-Like
‘No Man’s Sky’s’ Disastrous, Wonderful, Amazing Journey
How Blizzard Reduced Toxic Behavior With ‘Overwatch’s’ Endorsement System
GDC Women in Gaming Rally Puts Spotlight on Inclusion, Accessibility in Industry
How IBM Is Using AI to Build the Future of Esports Casting
Indie Devs Sound Off on Diversity, Ethics, Deadlines Without Crunch
Doctors Look to Virtual Reality to Treat Chronic Pain
The Struggles of South African Indie Game Development
Amazon Focused on Building the Game Industry’s Digital Infrastructure
Jason Rohrer: Design ‘Unique Situation Generators,’ Not ‘Consumable Games’
Altruism is Paramount in Thatgamecompany’s ‘Sky’
The Problem of Toxicity in Esports (and Two Solutions)
‘ICO,’ ‘Shadow of the Colossus’ Animator Explains Challenges of Creating VR Characters
The Changing Face of Video Game Crowdfunding
Road to GDC: Missed Opportunities
Road to GDC: The Future of Gaming Is AI
Road to GDC: Curating Video Games
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