Growing anxiety over immigration enforcement and personal safety is prompting a noticeable number of international game developers to stay away from the 2026 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Posts across LinkedIn and industry Slack groups describe developers canceling plans, citing reports of heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity, unpredictable border checks, and recent high-profile incidents involving ICE agents that have amplified fears.
GDC, newly branded as the GDC Festival of Gaming, has long billed itself as the global gathering point for the industry. But this year, many studios say the risks and uncertainty around U.S. entry—and apprehension about interactions with federal agents once inside the country—outweigh the benefits of attending.
Why Safety And Immigration Are Top Of Mind
ICE’s high-visibility operations in several U.S. cities, coupled with recent fatal confrontations involving agents in Minneapolis, have been widely discussed in developer forums. Although those cases are under investigation, they’ve sharpened concerns among visitors who worry about being in the wrong place at the wrong time or facing aggressive questioning over travel purposes, devices, or employment status.
Developers also point to inconsistent experiences at the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has broad discretion to conduct secondary inspections, including device searches. Attorneys who advise creative professionals say the variability—what one traveler encounters can differ sharply from another—makes trip planning fraught, especially for indie creators who cannot afford delays or detentions.
Visa logistics add another layer. U.S. State Department appointment data often shows months-long waits for certain nonimmigrant visa categories in some consulates. The International Game Developers Association has repeatedly flagged visa processing and travel safety as key barriers to conference participation, particularly for developers from Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia.
The Economic And Creative Cost Of Staying Home
Skipping GDC is not a trivial decision. The event historically draws tens of thousands of attendees from more than 100 countries, and many indie teams rely on face-to-face meetings to secure publishing deals, platform support, or early marketing momentum. Some studios are pivoting to virtual pitches and scheduling regional meetups to fill the gap, but few believe those fully replicate the chance encounters that big conferences enable.
Cost pressures compound the calculus. Airfare, hotels, meals, and badges can easily eclipse a modest studio’s monthly burn. GDC has attempted to ease the burden with a new Festival Pass that replaces the All-Access option, advertised as 45% cheaper with entry starting at $649 and access to core programming. For many, though, financial relief does not resolve safety and immigration uncertainty.
What Organizers And City Authorities Are Doing
GDC president Nina Brown told Mobilegamer.biz that attendee safety remains the top priority. Organizers say they are working with local officials and legal experts to track policy changes and provide guidance to travelers, including encouraging early visa applications and consultations with home-country embassies.
On-site measures include a 24/7 safety hotline, staff safety training, and security escorts upon request. San Francisco’s Community Ambassadors program is also expected to support attendees around the Moscone Center area, offering assistance and additional eyes on the ground.
Despite those steps, some international teams say mitigation at the venue cannot address anxieties about encounters with federal authorities outside the event perimeter or during entry at airports.
Ripple Effects Across The Games Industry
Publishers and platforms accustomed to unveiling deals or showcasing prototypes at GDC are recalibrating. Several business development leads say they are shifting sensitive meetings online or relocating them to later events in Canada and Europe, such as Gamescom in Cologne or Nordic Game in Malmö, where colleagues face fewer immigration hurdles.
Industry groups worry about the hit to diversity and discovery. When visa and safety concerns suppress attendance, it disproportionately affects emerging markets and underrepresented creators—exactly the voices that broaden the medium’s boundaries. The IGDA and academic researchers have long noted that global cross-pollination at conferences correlates with new collaborations and job mobility; a thinner international mix risks quieter pipelines for years to come.
What International Attendees Are Weighing Now
Studios still planning to attend describe rigorous pre-trip checks: consulting immigration counsel, reaching out to embassies for current guidance, ensuring all travel documentation and invitation letters are in order, and setting conservative arrival timelines in case of screening delays. Teams are also drafting contingency plans for remote participation if key staff are denied entry.
For those staying home, the focus shifts to alternative channels: platform office hours conducted remotely, publisher submission portals, and independent showcases timed to coincide with the conference news cycle. The consensus across many threads is pragmatic but sober—until trust in the safety and fairness of the travel experience improves, a portion of the global development community will watch GDC from afar.
