The DeanBeat: How honest will the Game Developers Conference be?

Games are the stuff of fantasy. But making them is part of the real world. At next week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, we’ll find out just how much the real world is going to intrude on the fantasy image we have of the video game industry as a wonderful thing. This time, developers are going to address some ugly truths — like sexism, Internet haters, racism, and homophobia — about their industry head-on.

The GDC will draw more than 23,000 attendees who want to understand the pulse of the industry. Prognosticators and craft experts — including, for some strange reason, me — will give talks about the state of the industry and its possible futures. At GDC, we learn what the industry cares about — or what it should care about. This year, the GDC’s leadership chose to put its “advocacy track” front and center in the hopes of generating honest conversation. Even the people who buy the less expensive “expo passes” may attend the advocacy sessions about the human side of the game business.