The 30th edition of GDC has come to a close, and in its wake organizers confirm it hosted over 27,000 attendees (a new record!) and will return (with VRDC!) in 2017 from February 27th to March 3rd. ...

"There will always be people who are new to the community. We can ignore them, let them fend for themselves, or we can mentor them. We can give back and teach them." ...

"We are living in a world of endless digital content with only a finite number of people to engage with it. So it's worth remembering, it's art first, not business, and it's not guaranteed to pay the bills." ...

And that's a wrap on GDC! We've got one last rundown on some of the big social topics during the show. ...

"Everybody loves to play" was the theme of this year's GDC Microtalks, which featured top-tier speakers who had a lot to say in a little amount of time. ...

Unity has added analytics and advertisements, and Amazon's Lumberyard is free but tightly integrated with Amazon Web Services. Epic's Tim Sweeney says his company will focus on the engine. ...

"If the event is still relevant, then why are so many high profile publishers opting out? Hosting your own event, focusing on fans instead of only media, and avoiding the noise are all reasons some have left." ...

"The goal of this talk is to help you develop accurate empathy," said Ubisoft's Jason VandenBerghe. "To understand what's going on in your players' minds so you can make accurate design decisions." ...

"Our game launched to an onslaught of negative feedback regarding a myriad of technical issues that we could not have predicted. This could have been the breaking point. But it wasn't." ...

This week, our partnership with game criticism site Critical Distance brings us picks from their Eric Swain on horror, trauma, and vicious children. ...