BancyCo at GDC 2024

This March we flew to San Francisco to attend the Game Developer Conference (GDC) for the 11th (!) time. We were there to show off our new game, meet industry partners about our future plans, and crawl out of our game-dev cave and into some beautiful sunshine.

Work travel can sometimes be stressful, but this year it was pretty smooth; we flew with Porter from Toronto to the US for the first time. Their service is as good as they claim — we even arrived in San Francisco early! (When does that happen?) And, just like always, we ran into plenty of other developers at Toronto's Pearson Airport, which made the trek feel more like a school trip than a flight for business. Making games is stressful; we get energized when we can share some of these adventures with others.

San Francisco can be a challenging city to visit; the changes we've seen over time as we return for each year's GDC are heartbreaking. On the one side of the street, you've got poverty like you wouldn't believe; on the other, self-driving robot cars. If you're a developer going to GDC for the first time, this stark contrast will probably hit you hard. Next time, we may book a hotel farther away from the downtown core — it was difficult to sleep with all the manic yelling and screaming outside our window each night.

When we weren't meeting with people about our new game, we got to catch up with other developers; some of whom we met in person for the first time. Sharing work stories like old war buddies is a major highlight of GDC; it helps us feel connected to the industry and is a genuine morale-booster, especially when we've been heads-down, pounding away at an important milestone or release.

We got to commiserate with developers like Cook, Serve, Delicious! creator David Galindo, adventure-game developer Julia Minamata (also from Toronto), and Serenity Forge owner Zhenghua Yang, among many others. Ben even got to sign a copy of our Nintendo Switch triple-pack!

The irony of GDC is that many Torontonians meet each other while travelling there — it is a good reminder to stay in touch with our local community members more often. There are so many talented devs here in the city; it feels like a shame to only meet them after flying to a neighbouring country.

We also took time to visit the GDC Expo floor, which houses all manner of displays, booths, and presentations (honestly, it gets overwhelming!). Of particular interest was the booth for Ontario Creates — the organization that supports (and helps fund) so many initiatives for Ontario-based creators and companies (including BancyCo). They provide funding and learning opportunities, and have been behind so many important indie games; you've probably seen their logo in the credits of a beloved game and didn't even realize it.

All in all, the conference for us was a big success — although we can't tell you about everything we did and everyone we met just yet, we were very satisfied with the opportunities we were able to create for our studio. Sometimes it really is nice to get out of the office — especially if it's sunny out.