Yep I'm attending GDC 2025. (For better or worse, I've made too many commitments to cancel.)
The best way to contact me is to @ me on BlueSky or email me( yang.robert.w [AT] gmail ). You can also probably just find me lounging in the Yerba Buena Gardens on most non-rainy noon-afternoons.
If you're press / journalist / podcaster / creator / TikToker / YouTuber / writer etc. and you need content to feed the Machine -- contact me (see above) and I'm happy to talk about whatever to help you:
- General video game opinions / GDC gossip.
- For 2-3 years I've been contributing level design to Big Hops(check us out at Day of the Devs) and I've learned a lot about making 3D platformer levels
- But for a demo / better sense of the game, contact the director Chris Wade ( chris [AT] luckshotgames.com ). A lot of the dev team will be hanging around GDC too.
- I'm also speaking at GDC about the difficulty of teaching level design and writing The Level Design Book, now a top search result and community resource used in multiple schools and studios.
- I'm also here as part of a New Zealand government trade group, with generous support from NZ CODE. It's funny to be part of a "foreign" delegation "visiting" my home country. I can talk about what NZ is doing at GDC, the local NZ game industry, or explain NZ in general (is it really like Lord of the Rings?)
- I'm here pitching our upcoming game Tryhard, a tactics RPG about managing an underdog rugby club.
- If you fund / publish games and Tryhard seems interesting / you just want to connect in general, email me ( yang.robert.w [AT] gmail ) and we can probably figure out a last minute meeting or demo too.
Below, my event schedule / dance card for the week:
- SUNDAY: I'll be at Day of the Devs, where I've contributed level design to a featured game Big Hops.
- MONDAY: I'll try to be at the NYU Game Center student / alumni / ally etc. social event... but there's a 50% chance I might just lazily settle for a random bar closer to Moscone.
- TUESDAY: My "Teaching (and Rethinking) Level Design" microtalk is part of the Educators Summit: Educators Soapbox session. It's not for nice normal game devs -- it's for real sickos (educators / teachers).
- I'll try to make it over to Slug World but my Tuesday is pretty packed unfortunately.
- THURSDAY: I want to go to the boshi's place x Syzygy: FREE RANGE INDIE GAMES ONLY $2.99 event but I'm not sure when I'll actually be able to get over there though.
- THROUGHOUT THE WEEK: randomly hanging out in Yerba Buena Gardens (assuming it's not raining)
Have a safe and pleasant GDC! Or a safe and pleasant not-GDC!