Twenty-five years strong, the Game Developers Conference is back.  Though GDC’s 25th edition was commemorated in 2011, the conference has been held yearly since 1988.  The conference was usually held once a year, but since 2009 other countries like China have been hosting events of their own.

GDC is taking place at the North, South, & West Halls of the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, CA on March 25-29, 2013.  Game developers, Business Development Professionals and Venture Capitalists, Studio Managers & Heads of Studios, Executive Producers, Vendor Companies and Sponsors, Career Seekers & Recruiters, or just about anyone are encouraged to attend the  five-day conference comprised of sessions,tutorials, bootcamps, and roundtable discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts.

Pre-registration for the event has already ended, so those of you who want to attend can still buy your event pass at the event.  The All Access Pass costs $2,100, Main Conference Pass is at $1,475, the Summits, Tutorials & Bootcamps Pass costs $895, Audio Track Pass at $895, Expo Pass at $250, the Student Expo Pass only costs $75 but it’s only available for Friday, March 29.  Unfortunately, the Independent Games Summit Pass is already sold out.

Attendees will get to listen to tutorials, sessions and discussions from speakers such as Zynga’s Director of Product Abhinav Agrawal, Valve Software’s Programmer Michael Abrash, Ubisoft’s Audio Designer Jerome Angelot, NVIDIA’s Developer Technology Engineer Louis Bavoil, Electronic Arts’ Story Producer Chuck Beaver and a lot more.

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Word hard, play harder

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GDC, like other events, is not all about the serious stuff.  Gamers know that when you work hard, you play harder.  GDC attendees can enjoy lounging at the Microsoft Lobby Bar and enjoy some drinks with you friends, or meet new ones while hanging out there.  If you’re a Sega enthusiast, you’ll enjoy the Video Game Lounge where “The History of Sega” will be showcased by the The Videogame History Museum.  And Radisson Hotel is looking to team up with game developers to create a simulation game themed around some aspects of the hotel business — those interested can participate in its Mobile Game Hackathon.  There’s plenty more events to check out at GDC — see here for the full list.

To plug in via social media, follow GDC on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.  You can also get the latest news from GDC’s official media partners Gamasutra and Game Developer Magazine or here at SiliconANGLE.

The GDC Mobile App is now available for download on iOS, Android, and mobile web platforms, and now offers full support for GDC Online, and offers a number of scheduling and business tools for all GDC Online attendees.