“It doesn’t feel safe”—Many international game developers plan to skip GDC in US

“Hearing European citizens getting arrested by border control over their views on the US is not something I would like to test for myself,” said Nazih Fares, a French-Lebanese citizen and creative director at indie studio Le Cabinet du Savoir.

Even with these stories circulating, many international developers who had planned to attend the 2025 GDC decided it was too late to cancel. But that doesn’t mean their attendance felt normal last year. “The agent at the border was very intrusive, more than the usual ‘Ah, brown people’ racism,” said Neha Patel, a freelancer and audio director at Pamplemousse Games, of her 2025 trip. “They asked a lot of questions regarding my employment, roles, and studio. I lied and said that I did not have American clients nor did I admit I work as a freelancer. I was too scared.”

Be prepared

Some companies took additional steps to ensure the safety of employees who chose to attend GDC 2025. “Last year, every studio representative got an additional safety briefing and [our company] helped prepare legal paperwork for everyone in case they got in trouble with ICE or immigration,” a developer for a big-budget studio, who asked to remain anonymous, told Ars. “Luckily, nobody did, but there was definitely some fear going around among the people that went and those that opted not to. For 2026, we’re not planning any physical presence as far as I know.”

Other developers told Ars about the personal precautions they were taking before coming to the US for the show.

“I felt compelled to send copies of my itinerary, passport and other IDs, speaker information, etc., to at least three other people who weren’t attending, with the instructions that if I didn’t contact them by a specified time to let them know that I had landed and cleared security, that they should take my information to the Australian consulate,” said JC Lau, a senior producer at Amsterdam’s Twirlbound who has attended every GDC since 2017.