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GDC 2022 on-site attendance down 59% from last pre-COVID show

San Francisco's Moscone Center hosted 12,000 attendees in first show since the pandemic; 2023 show set for March 21-25

News by Brendan Sinclair Managing Editor

Published on March 28, 2022

While the Game Developers Conference returned to San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center last week for the first time since the pandemic, it was still not quite a return to normal.

Organizers today announced a 2022 attendance figure of 17,000, down 41% from the record 29,000 attendees at GDC 2019.

However, 5,000 of those attendees were just signed on for the virtual component of the show, so the actual convention center crowd was closer to 12,000, or down 59% compared to 2019.

Organizers also announced the dates for the next edition of the show, with GDC returning to Moscone from March 21 through March 25, 2023.

The show will begin accepting submissions from prospective speakers this summer.