The game industry’s largest professional event, the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC), is back in San Francisco on March 18 – 22, and along with it are 10 DigiPen community members who will contribute their expertise as session hosts, panelists, and presenters.
Faculty and alumni will present on everything from the open-world audio system in Destiny 2 to best practices in putting together your industry portfolio. Two DigiPen students will also present their award-winning submissions to the 2024 GDC Student Narrative Analysis Competition, including Vasilisa Shcherbakova on her Platinum-winning insights on Katana Zero and Noah Crissey on his Gold-winning breakdown of God of War (2018).
Here’s a rundown on all the DigiPen Dragon presenters at GDC 2024 and where to find them:
Ryan Duffin (AAA in 3D Computer Animation, 2001), Animation Director at Undead Labs.
- Guest, Animation Summit: Animation Variety Hour, Monday, March 18
Vasilisa Shcherbakova (BA in Game Design, 2025), DigiPen Student
Noah Crissey (BA in Game Design, 2026), DigiPen Student
- Presenters, Game Narrative Summit: Poster Presentation Sessions, Monday, March 18 – Tuesday, March 19
Patrick Martin (BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Simulation, 2009), Developer Relations Engineer at Google
- Panelist, Google Developer Summit: Android input on desktop: How to delight your users, Tuesday, March 19
Aviva Schecterson (BA in Game Design, 2016), Senior Combat Designer at Stoic
- Host, Antisemitism in the Games Industry Roundtable (Presented by the IGDA), Wednesday, March 20
Luis Villegas (MS in Computer Science, 2008), Chief Technology Officer at Bungie
- Panelist, The AI Revolution: An Expert-led Discussion on Generative AI’s Potential in Gaming, Wednesday, March 20
Peter Kugler (BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Simulation, 2007), Engineering Architect at Bungie
- Panelist, ‘Destiny 2’: Weaving Music Between Activities and the Open World, Thursday, March 21
Brian Schmidt, Principal Lecturer in Music, DigiPen
- Presenter, Hearing Health in Video Games, Thursday, March 21
- Presenter, 22nd Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards, Thursday, March 21
- Co-Presenter, G.A.N.G. Town Hall, Friday, March 22
Jessica Kurtrakun (MFA in Digital Arts, 2014), Senior Creative Lead at Hypixel Studios
- Panelist, Game Career Seminar: Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer Part 2: Portfolio Reviews, Friday, March 22
Zak Whaley (BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Simulation, 2011), Director of Engineering at PlayEveryWare
- Host, Refactoring Systems at Scale Roundtable (Presented by the IGDA), Friday, March 22