Italian video game companies at the Game Developers Conference San Francisco
San Francisco, 19 March 2025 – The trade show portion of the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC), the leading event for the video game industry in the US, kicked off today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco and will run until 21 March. The GDC brings together all of the industry’s professionals and stakeholders (programmers, artists, producers, audio professionals, game designers, investors) to discuss and propose ideas and projects based on the future scenarios of the sector.
This year’s programme is particularly rich, with more than 700 sessions, including conferences, panels, tutorials and round tables, featuring the sector’s leading experts and focusing on the main topics related to video game development: Audio, Marketing, Design, Production & Team Management, Development and Graphics.
More than 270 companies are exhibiting in a total area of around 7,000 square metres, and more than 30,000 visitors are expected. Among the foreign pavilions, Italy will be joined by Spain, Germany, Portugal, Wales, Japan, Brazil, India and Chile. Italy will be represented by a delegation of 18 companies in the “Games in Italy” area, organised by ICE-Agenzia in collaboration with the Italian Association of the Video Game Industry (IIDEA). The Italian delegation includes specialised operators who develop different types of video games for all the main distribution platforms, with a diversified offer that includes different genres: from racing to action, from single-player experiences to multiplayer competitions, with both entertainment and e-learning content. To support the Italian participation, a package of services has been developed, including the ICE-IIDEA National Pavilion, equipped with video walls and graphics, the collective’s catalogue and a market note on the video games sector in the United States.
To further highlight the Italian presence at GDC, the networking event “Let’s Eat Italian Gaming” was held at 54 Mint, attended by the Italian delegation and around 120 guests, including investors, publishers, developers, start-ups and other specialised operators in the world of video games and American and international innovation. Giosafat Riganò, director of the ICE office in Los Angeles, welcomed everyone and introduced the Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, Sergio Strozzi, followed by a brief presentation of each of the 18 participating companies.
“We are happy to promote the Made in Italy video game sector at GDC: it is a rapidly growing industry thanks to the creativity of our companies and the various forms of public support, including international promotion,” explains the Director of Italian Trade Agency Los Angeles Office, Giosafat Riganò. “The importance of being present at an event like GDC is also linked to keeping up with new technologies related to AI and, at the same time, developing further opportunities for collaboration at an international level for our companies, at a time when the turnover of the sector in the Italian market will exceed 2.3 billion euros in 2023, confirming Italy among the top five European video game markets”.
The US video games market, the second largest in the world after China and ahead of Japan, is estimated to be worth $57.9 billion in 2024, with growth forecasts of 9.4% over the next five years, reaching $90.8 billion in 2029. In the United States, there are 227 million video game users, of which 57% play on smartphones, 46% on consoles and 42% on computers (Mordor Intelligence).