New Initiative Expands Access to the GDC Festival Of Gaming by Reducing Financial Barriers for Emerging Global Developers
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Xsolla, a leading global video game commerce company, announces the launch of the GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 Scholarship Program – Powered by Xsolla, an initiative designed to support indie and mid-tier developers who face financial limitations preventing them from attending the GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco. As GDC celebrates its 40th edition and enters a new era designed to drive connection, discovery, and collaboration for everyone who imagines, builds, ships, markets, scales, and sustains the world’s most impactful, successful games, Xsolla is committed to helping more creators participate in one of the industry’s most important global gatherings.
Building on the success of last year’s event, Xsolla will maintain its Diamond-Level Sponsorship while enabling 45 developers to attend the GDC Festival of Gaming 2026.
Scholarship recipients will receive:
- Festival Pass to GDC Festival of Gaming (provided by GDC Festival of Gaming)
- Four nights of hotel accommodations at the Hilton Union Square in San Francisco
- Access to Xsolla-hosted events throughout the festival week
- Networking opportunities with Xsolla teams
- Exclusive Xsolla swag for their 2026 festival experience
“Every creator deserves a chance to participate in the conversations and opportunities that define our industry’s future,” said Berkley Egenes, Chief Marketing & Growth Officer at Xsolla. “This program is a meaningful way for us to open doors for talented teams around the world and support the next generation of innovative game makers.”
Applications open December 19, 2025, and close January 16, 2026, via Xsolla’s dedicated application page. Scholarship recipients will be announced at the end of January 2026, with final coordination completed ahead of the event.
Developers can learn more and apply beginning December 19, 2025.
For program updates and future opportunities, visit the Xsolla GDC Festival of Gaming 2026 Scholarship Program page and follow Xsolla across official channels: xsolla.pro/GDC-Scholarship
About Xsolla
Xsolla is a global commerce company with robust tools and services to help developers solve the inherent challenges of the video game industry. From indie to AAA, companies partner with Xsolla to help them fund, distribute, market, and monetize their games. Grounded in the belief in the future of video games, Xsolla is resolute in the mission to bring opportunities together, and continually make new resources available to creators. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, Xsolla operates as the merchant of record and has helped over 1,500+ game developers to reach more players and grow their businesses around the world. With more paths to profits and ways to win, developers have all the things needed to enjoy the game.
For more information, visit xsolla.com
About GDC Festival of Gaming
GDC Festival of Gaming is the world’s largest professional game industry event with market-defining content for programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision makers and others involved in the development of interactive games and immersive experiences. GDC brings together the global game industry community year-round through events and digital media, including GDC Vault, GameDeveloper.com, Independent Games Festival, and the Game Developers Choice Awards.
GDC is organized by Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and one of the leading B2B event organizers in the world.
To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.informa.com
Contacts
Media Contact
Derrick Stembridge
Vice President of Global Public Relations, Xsolla
[email protected]
