The Game Developers Conference will shine its light on virtual reality, e-sports, and Internet hatred (interview)

The Game Developers Conference is one of the rites of spring in San Francisco. The event draws more than 24,000 game developers and other professionals from around the world. It will include more than 450 press, including at least five journalists from GamesBeat. Like everybody else in games, we have to go drink from the well of GDC to rejuvenate our enthusiasm for games and the process of making them. No other conference more directly targets the people who create games on a daily basis.

Simon Carless, the executive vice president of show organizer UBM Tech, helps organize the GDC every year, along with general manager of GDC Events Meggan Scavio. Their job is to create a “platform for the industry” to create its own sessions for identifying hot trends or lessons for everyone involved in making and promoting games. This year’s sessions include a primer on mobile virtual reality by game pioneer John Carmack and a refresh of Sony’s Morpheus virtual reality project. We’ll see how game developers crafted hits like HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft, which has been downloaded 25 million times; and Alien: Isolation, which sends chills up your spine.