Electronic Game Developers Society Hosts Largest GDC² In History Days Before the San Francisco Game Developers Conference – Game Development and Design Program

A speaker addresses a crowded room of seated attendees at a conference, photographed from behind the speaker's shoulder. — Photo of alumni Joy Ekechukwu, Incoming Engineer at 2K Games, speaking to GDC² attendees as part of the “From Student to What the Heck?” alumni panel.

On the weekend of March 6, the Electronic Game Developers Society (EGaDS!), with support from the UT Game Development and Design (GDAD) department, welcomed more than 200 students, alumni, industry professionals, and Austin-based game developers to the Gates-Dell Complex for its annual “GDC²” event.

GDC² takes its name both from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and its host venue, UT’s Gates-Dell Complex (GDC). Through two days of programming, networking, and speaker sessions, the event connected Austin-based developers with UT students, alumni, faculty, and industry professionals. In particular, EGaDS! welcomed representatives from SciPlay, PocketWorlds, KingsIsle Entertainment, Aristocrat Gaming, Serenity Forge, and more.

The conference opened early Friday afternoon, with the “From Student to What the Heck?” alumni panel moderated by Dr. Paul Toprac, EGaDS!’s advisor and the head of the GDAD Program. Panelists included Julianna Valle, Associate Marketing Producer at KingsIsle Entertainment, Joy Ekechukwu, Incoming Engineer at 2K, Branden Heng, Software Engineer Intern at Aristocrat Gaming, and Kuba Bard, a master’s student studying Visualization at Texas A&M University. Panelists emphasized the importance of networking, pursuing personal projects, and developing soft skills when entering the game industry.

Shortly thereafter, through Career Center representatives from the College of Fine Arts, the Moody College of Communication, and the College of Natural Sciences, attendees had the ability to receive personalized resume and portfolio feedback. This occurred in tandem with alumni roundtables, a headshot station, recruiting opportunities, and more.

Friday’s speaker series began with SciPlay’s Gordon Walton, who shared twelve life lessons from over twenty years in the game industry. Following Walton was Serenity Forge’s Tim Garris, who shared innovative strategies for marketing a game. The night’s final speaker was Pocket World’s Matt Kayrouz, who led attendees in a networking activity. To close out the night, attendees enjoyed a dinner sponsored by Zynga, one of EGaDS!’s largest donors.

The second day opened with a presentation from Will Sords, a freelance Technical Sound Designer, on audio in games. Sords was followed by Mario Rodriguez, a Senior Product Producer at Gearbox Entertainment and GDAD alumnus, who hosted an interactive Q&A on game production. Then, attendees enjoyed a sponsored lunch by PocketWorlds before the GDC² “Games Showcase” began. This year’s showcase featured eighteen games, with The Lost Shepherd by Shear Luck Studios winning the conference’s top prize.

Saturday afternoon began with Arthur Dale and Adam Eckert’s presentation titled “One Month Game Project to Indie Studio,” which detailed their experience in starting Dragon Fractal Games. This occurred in conjunction with a VR showcase by GDC² sponsor Tummydrops, who also led a presentation on motion sickness in games. Shortly thereafter, SciPlay’s Ian Drayer shared how testing analytics inform game design and emphasized the importance of structured A/B testing. This presentation was followed by Pocket Worlds’ Ian Costello and Drew Kenady, who shared what a career as a game engineer is like. The night ended with a dinner catered by SciPlay, and a gaming afterparty sponsored by Longhorn Gaming.

In discussing the conference, EGaDS! President Zayaan Rahman remarked, “This year, we hosted multiple events concurrently, modeling the actual Game Developers Conference. It was ambitious, but a success; since last year, we’ve started to see a lot of people outside of UT come to GDC² – both students and professionals from other schools and cities. While EGaDS! is a university organization, GDC² is increasingly becoming a gathering for the broader game development community – and given the current state of the industry, networking is more important now than ever. I am incredibly proud of the work the officer team put in to make it happen.”

Founded at the University of Texas at Austin and sponsored by the GDAD Program, the Electronic Game Developers Society (EGaDS!) supports student game developers through workshops, networking events, and industry sponsorships. GDC² will be hosted in early March next year, and will occur prior to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. For inquiries on how to get involved, please contact texasegads@gmail.com.

The Game Development and Design (GDAD) Program at the University of Texas at Austin is the #1 undergraduate game development program in the state, consisting of a collaboration between the departments of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, Computer Science, and Radio-Television-Film. The program produces graduates ready to design, develop, and provide leadership for the exploding growth in game, metaverse applications, and creative media agencies and studios in Texas and around the world. For more information on the GDAD Program, please visit http://gamedev.utexas.edu.