GDC 2019

dammit

As many of you already know, GDC (Game Developer Conference) will be running from March 18 to March 22 2019. The Independent Games Summit pass is $399 while All Access is $1999

I've never been, but always been curious. Who is planning on going in 2019? What would you expected costs be? Would someone be able to give me a breakdown of things like accommodation, food etc and best places to stay (for the budget but also security conscious)?

Elyaradine

I most probably won't be going, but I've been a few times before.

The biggest cost by far is the plane ticket, which varies wildly depending on timing and airline. In the past, I've gotten a return flight for between R12k-16k, but I imagine it's more than that now.

The Downtown Hostel is usually the preferred one, for being quite close to Moscone and for having lots of indie developers staying there, but it's usually booked out really early. There are a bunch of other hostels in the area. They cost around $250 for the week from what I remember, and include breakfast (which is just bread rolls). Avoid walking around the Tenderloin area.

I budget $20 per meal (meals are usually less, but it leaves a bit of room to buy someone a drink), and book tickets to parties in the area (which are usually less than $20).

And some extra for Ubers or Lyfts to get around (or if I'm out late and don't feel safe walking). A short trip is around $6. A very long one (like from the airport to the hostel) is around $40. (You should take the BART shuttle instead if you can walk a few blocks with your luggage.)

Aside from passes, I think that's about it...? It's been a while since I've gone from South Africa though, so my guesses for costs might be a bit low now.

Bensonance

We're (Nyamakop) are planning to go in 2019.

@Elyaradine Gives a pretty good breakdown. Plane ticket is the biggest expense, and then accommodation in San Francisco is really crazy expensive, as well as food.

In my opinion, and depending on your goals, the expensive GDC pass is really not worth it. All the talks will be online, and meeting people will mostly happen during the evening events, or outside of the places that need passes during the day.

Tuism

If you're planning to hit GDC already, it's a good opportunity to try and include Train Jam in your budgeting in terms of cost as well as time - they have diversity grants that let people go at reduced cost, some of the students here have successfully made use of that (though I think the diversity applications are closed for 2019 already) and otherwise it's a straight up great opportunity to meet people and to make a game. I haven't been to one myself but I must do it one day.

It's entirely possible that the train jam is already sold out but keep it in mind for when you want to go to GDC.

dammit

Yeah, it seems I have missed some crucial deadlines for GDC scholarship stuff.