My name is Parker Chester, I am a senior at WSU majoring in Game Design with a focus
on 3D Environmental Art! The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is a 5-day event that takes place in San Francisco, California. GDC is where the entire games industry comes together and celebrates how games are made,
the developers and artist behind them, and allows them to learn from industry peers.
I have had the honor of going to GDC for two years now, in 2024 and 2025. I initially went because WSU had chosen myself
and a few other students to go and learn from the conference as well as connecting
with those in the industry. I had a fantastic time the first time and learned so much
that I knew I had to go again the next year as well.
For myself, GDC was extremely beneficial as it really allowed me to understand the game industry further,
meet my peers and connect with them, as well as furthering my own knowledge and skills
via different panels. GDC really gave me a strong idea of how much I needed to further my own skills in order
to make it into the industry and truly motivated me to push myself further. One of
my favorite panels was about the map creation and various tools used in the game Pacific
Drive in order to create its environment. In addition to GDC, myself and a few friends also attending GDC took some time to explore San Fransico, specifically the Japanese Tea Garden, San
Francisco Botanical Garden, and the California Academy of Sciences located in the
Golden Gate Park! Outside of GDC, these places were my absolute favorite and I would love to visit there again.
