Many International Game Developers Plan To Skip GDC In US (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0180945304
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/03/10/0442249/many-international-game-developers-plan-to-skip-gdc-in-us
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/it-doesnt-feel-safe-many-international-game-developers-plan-to-skip-gdc-in-us/
> This week, tens of thousands of game developers and producers will once again gather in San Francisco, as they have since 1988, for the weeklong [1]Game Developers Conference . But this year's show will be missing many international developers who say they [2]no longer feel comfortable traveling to the United States to attend , no matter how relevant the show is to their work and careers. Dozens of those developers who spoke to Ars in recent months say they're wary of traveling to a country that has shown a callous disregard for -- or outright hostility toward -- the safety of international travelers. That's especially true for developers from various minority groups, those with transgender identities, and those who feel they could be targeted for outspoken political beliefs. "I honestly don't know anyone who is not from the U.S. who is planning on going to the next GDC," Godot Foundation Executive Director Emilio Coppola, who's based in Spain, told Ars. "We never felt super safe, but now we are not willing to risk it."
"I honestly don't know anyone who is not from the U.S. who is planning on going to the next GDC," says Godot Foundation Executive Director Emilio Coppola, who's based in Spain. "We never felt super safe, but now we are not willing to risk it."
"Hearing European citizens getting arrested by border control over their views on the U.S. is not something I would like to test for myself," adds Nazih Fares, a French-Lebanese citizen and creative director at indie studio Le Cabinet du Savoir..
Many of the developers who spoke to Ars cite the intrusive questioning, racial profiling, and other horror stories reported at the U.S. border. "I read a few long reads about how UK/German tourists ended up detained, and that was the final straw for me," Austrian-based Cohop Game founder Eline Muijres said. "It doesn't feel safe for me."
Domini Gee, a Canadian game writer and narrative designer echoed that concern, adding: "There's no shortage of stories... about the risk of detainment, deportation, phones being searched... the consequences if I'm not [OK] could be high."
[1] https://gdconf.com/
[2] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/it-doesnt-feel-safe-many-international-game-developers-plan-to-skip-gdc-in-us/
Re: The US is no longer a safe country for Western (Score:2, Interesting)
It's actually no different for US citizens. I fear the USA border every time I approach it, and I'm a USA citizen with no crimes, no evidence of crimes, my current and former passport, USA bank accounts and property, etc. That country has jumped the shark.
Re: The US is no longer a safe country for Western (Score:4, Informative)
ICE has no problems detaining citizens. [1]https://www.propublica.org/art... [propublica.org]
Oh it's cool though. They'll eventually release you after kidnapping you halfway across the country.
[1] https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will
Re: (Score:3)
Not always, several citizens were deported to Mexico just because they didn't have their ID, including a couple of Native Americans who didn't even speak Spanish.
Re: (Score:1)
Then maybe what you need is a therapist.
I don't think you represent the average US citizen. You're describing your own emotional issues, not anyone else's.
Re: The US is no longer a safe country for Wester (Score:2)
You're partially right. I tend to cross through west coast airports, which are less risky, and it's been amazingly easy thanks to facial recognition. There's just this general sentiment of fear, like the lawlessness of the current USA is actually significant.
Re: (Score:2)
The average US citizen doesn't ever leave the US, so they'd have no experience with CBP.
My experiences coming back to the US are often not pleasant.
Re: (Score:1)
What do you mean by "not pleasant." No part of airline travel is pleasant, except perhaps arrival at your final destination. I travel out of the US 3 times a year (4 this year) and I've seen none of the crap people are talking about here. Yes, they line you up when you arrive in the US. They lined me up when I arrived in the UK and and they line me up when I arrive in Germany. You know what I fear? The beagle at O'Hare, looking for fruit and stuff in checked bags.
Re: (Score:2)
Being treated like a criminal. Long lines, employees providing conflicting information. Being yelled at for following the direction of the previous person. One time (after returning from Asia) I accidentally gave the DOB of my wife when they asked (she was with me) and the result from that was being escorted back and having to spend 15 minutes convincing them I simply made a mistake.
Houston was always the worst but Chicago is painful as well. It's not just the lines, it's the attitude of the people wh
Every time there's a republican in the White House (Score:5, Interesting)
In my lifetime we go to war with the Middle East and the economy collapses. Every. Freaking. Time.
It's been like this since the 1980s. Why the hell are y'all so bad at pattern recognition? I'm not asking you to pick it up right away I could forgive you for Ronald Reagan but by the time we got to Trump shooting for a second term how is it that the American people, that's you, didn't figure this out? It's been 45 years.
Oh right, the topic. We have lost tens of billions of dollars in tourist dollars thanks to Donald Trump's Gestapo going around arresting people who are here legally in the country. It's been devastating to tourist towns of all kinds. Not to mention him threatening to invade Canada
Re: (Score:2)
You make it sound like it was more than three conflicts and two, unrelated, recessions. Or, that you couldn't say essentially the same about every Democrat President in your lifetime, whether or not your lifetime includes Carter.
Also, Regan didn't go to war in the Middle East.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Forget about Iran Contra?
Re: (Score:3)
The world's current attitude towards the US has nothing to do with the current president being a republican, and everything to do with him being Donald Fucking Trump .
There have been numerous republican presidents in the past, and altough usually not being as much liked in the rest of the world as democratic presidents, they have had little to no impact on tourism and international trade. But then again, no previous american president, republican or democrat, has ever threatened with military action the sove
How many? (Score:1)
"Tens of thousands" will attend. Ars found "Dozens" who wouldn't be attending.
Is this a story about a couple dozen people not attending a conference expecting tens of thousands? Does that sound even remotely relevant? Not to me. 12 out of 10,000 is meaningless. Stating "many" absent any relative context is meaningless. "Many" could mean 50, out of, again, "tens of thousands". Not meaningful.
As it stands now, I'd have to call this purely political. Propaganda, essentially. Vagaries meant to co
Re:How many? (Score:5, Informative)
We can always let the tourism numbers speak for themselves.
Tourism to the USA declined 6% while growing worldwide. Tourism from Canada is down 28%. [1]https://www.the-independent.co... [the-independent.com]
But it's clearly only a few blue haired individuals the librul media is showcasing.
[1] https://www.the-independent.com/travel/news-and-advice/us-tourist-numbers-visitor-decline-b2924756.html
Re: (Score:2)
Well we don't have that data yet, obviously, which is why looking at data about general tourism being down 6% is interesting, because once GDC is over you can potentially extrapolate something interesting from the delta. The widespread layoffs in game developers may confound it a bit, though.
Re: (Score:2)
> How about a relevant number, like the percentage of usual attendees who will not be attending for political reasons? You know, the thing the article is about.
If tourism is on a decline, you don't think conference attendance is also on a decline? Why might tourism be declining only in the USA? Think hard now...
It is just unpleasant (Score:3)
As a Canadian, visiting the US used to be an enjoyable thing. Now crossing the border is like getting booked into a jail. It is an unpleasant experience and something you are better off just avoiding unless you absolutely have to. There are lots of other nice places to go.
Re: (Score:2)
I read that and knew immediately that you were responding to sabbede despite sabbede's ramblings being, as usual, hidden by the moderation threshold.
So there is free speech? Or not? (Score:2)
Quote: "those who feel they could be targeted for outspoken political beliefs". So people are afraid they could be targeted for using their right of free speech in the USA? Because free speech is only free if it praises the Great Leader of the country?
Re: (Score:2)
Typical Trumptard.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own !"
Re: (Score:2)
Nobody cares about your pathetic attempts at rationalizing your islamophobia.
Re: (Score:2)
A phobia is an irrational fear. It there is a group who publicly state they want to kill people like me and have a history of carrying out such attacks, then not liking them is completely rational and justified.
Re: (Score:1)
> Europe is completely invaded and co-opted by Islam, and the US is next. Yell at me all you want, hide all you want from it, when you hear prayer calls from minarets in your town THEN you'll get it, and by then it'll far too late.
None of the above is actually true, but blasting it across 'news' media and social media 24/7 is very effective in making people so pants-wettingly terrified that you can manipulate them in any way you choose, as long as you promise to save them from the fears you've inflicted upon them.
Translation (Score:2)
It's too expensive.
Re: (Score:2)
That isn't even true. The US government has straight up murdered completely innocent US citizens with no punishments or repercussions.
Re: no longer feel comfortable traveling to the US (Score:2)
Like how Renee good got shot for the crime of driving her car?
GDC? (Score:1)
I wouldn't go to the USA even if I had a funeral to attend.
Quantitative Data is Needed (Score:2)
The article only quotes people who aren't going to attend. There was no quantitative data presented, either from previous years or, especially, from previous years when international travelers may have had fears or concerns about visiting the US.
To be clear, am not discounting the concerns. I do think they're legitimate. But I also think it's important to get quantitative data on how many do attend the conference, how many are international attendees, and how this compares to previous years. Why is this imp
Re: (Score:1)
Not to mention [1]the supporting evidence [archive.org] was taken down from the official site...
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20250911012550/https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/what-nij-research-tells-us-about-domestic-terrorism
Re: (Score:2)
i thought it was Obama's fault?
Re: (Score:2)
Don't forget Hillary! Even though she wasn't president he can/will still blame her for things.
Re:Consequence culture? (Score:4, Informative)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Customs has always had discretion for who it will allow into the country at ports of entry. Common sense should tell you that if you express sympathy towards Osama Bin Laden on, of all things, American social media platforms, then you just might be denied entry to the US if you try to come. Moreover, the speech wasn't abridged.
The constitution isn't a suicide bomb pact. Besides, the most viral stories people hear about this often have nothing to do with speech.
[1]https://time.com/7297472/jd-va... [time.com]
[1] https://time.com/7297472/jd-vance-meme-mads-mikkelsen-tourist-denied-entry-cbp-ice/
Re: (Score:1)
You're using a fictional example.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
> You're using a fictional example.
No, it's a clear fact that the U.S.A. has become a shithole country.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:4, Informative)
For example, the government can restrict your right to free speech if you do it loudly at night in the suburban neighborhood.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:3)
Time and manor not content based restrictions. Totally fine.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:2)
Content as well. For example, you will be restricted from shouting obscenities or threatening neighbors even in daytime.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:2)
What's fiction about it? He claimed he was denied entry due to a JD Vance meme, but it turns out it had something to do with drug paraphernalia, which they even told him at the time.
Just like the French researcher you called attention to who claimed he was being denied entry for anti-Trump speech, even though they told him at the time that it was because he stole research materials from Los Alamos.
There's two sides to every story dude. Customs generally won't tell their side due to privacy laws, which were
Re: (Score:3)
Customs has always had discretion for who it will allow into the country at ports of entry.
I'm an older GenX Canadian. This is of course correct.
The difference now compared to 20 years ago is the outright hostility you encounter more often than not from American Customs and Border Protection agents.
While never particularly friendly, in the before-times they were very rarely antagonistic. It was an efficient, almost boring exercise.
Contrast that with now while they angrily scroll through your ph
Re:Consequence culture? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is about concern about people being harassed or detained due to being LGBT or being a minority racial group, or just running into a use immigration official in a bad mood. This has nothing to do with supporting terrorists.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think the main thing people worry about isn't any specific identity stuff, but simply that you'll be at the mercy of people who could and would hurt you, with total impunity, if they knew what you thought about them.
People have literally been abused for poking fun at the vice president in social media.
Same reason I won't visit Thailand, the only difference being that the king who they will harm you for criticizing, is a lot less in your face obnoxious (let alone murderous) than the US one.
Re:Consequence culture? (Score:4, Informative)
Looks like the penalty for criticizing dear leader (otherwise known as the fuck your feelings party) is getting denied entry to the country. [1]https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com]
Turns out the fuck your feelings crowd has the most fragile feelings of all.
I'm also pretty sure that in the eyes of the crown George Washington was a terrorist.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained
Re: (Score:1)
> I'm also pretty sure that in the eyes of the crown George Washington was a terrorist.
He did do a genocide... don't think they really gave a shit about that though.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:2)
The only 'cide he appears to have committed is career suicide. If the NYT is correct, it went a bit like this: First he stole research materials from Los Alamos, then he tried to hide it, and then he lied to his employer about why he was denied entry into the US.
Maybe the French government will stand by his story even if it weren't true in order to save face, I don't know, but I wouldn't put it past them. What I do know is that the aerospace industry has zero tolerance for that kind of thing, no matter wher
Re: (Score:3)
> The only 'cide he appears to have committed is career suicide.
They called him "town killer" for doing a genocide just like his daddy who was also called the same thing for the same reason.
> Regardless, knowing you and how much you love to engage in conspiracy theories and shit play
The last cry of the cuck.
Re: (Score:1)
George Washington committed career suicide in the aerospace industry?
You must be from a very interesting timeline.
Re: Consequence culture? (Score:2)
That piece was suspiciously devoid of context, and about ten minutes of digging yielded'
[1]https://www.nytimes.com/2025/0... [nytimes.com]
You might recall how not long ago, the US expelled a Russian cosmonaut for doing something similar. Nothing about that seemed controversial. So why is this?
Do tell
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/world/europe/us-france-scientist-entry-trump.html
Re: (Score:2)
You talking about the guy taking pictures of classified docs and sending them back to the motherland? [1]https://www.space.com/space-ex... [space.com]
[1] https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/cosmonaut-removed-from-spacexs-crew-12-mission-for-violating-national-security-rules-report
Re: (Score:3)
On one hand, we have Tricia McLaughlin, who has repeatedly been caught in blatant lies about people DHS has taken action against.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
On the other hand, we have multiple French officials standing behind the scientist's story.
Just on that basis alone, the scientist's account sounds more plausible.
But also, how did a border agent even know what information was supposedly confidential?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricia_McLaughlin_(spokeswoman)#Second_Trump_administration
Re: (Score:2)
We sure believe your state propaganda. The trump administration never lies or never violates its own laws, right?
Re: (Score:1)
And which terror attacks have they planned or executed?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
January 6th attack on the capital involved a lot of proud boys. Several of whom were convicted for their actions that day.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
[1]https://www.pbs.org/newshour/p... [pbs.org]
[2]https://www.lawyerscommittee.o... [lawyerscommittee.org]
[3]https://www.justice.gov/archiv... [justice.gov]
[4]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/1... [nytimes.com]
[5]https://www.justice.gov/archiv... [justice.gov]
[1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/proud-boy-who-smashed-capitol-window-on-jan-6-gets-10-years-in-prison-declares-trump-won
[2] https://www.lawyerscommittee.org/proud-boys/
[3] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/proud-boys-leader-sentenced-22-years-prison-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/nyregion/proud-boys-antifa-sentence.html
[5] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/ohio-man-sentenced-life-prison-federal-hate-crimes-related-august-2017-car-attack-rally
Re: (Score:2)
So, Capitol riot, street brawl, Capitol riot, street brawl, and... was that last guy a member? The word "proud" does not appear.
Re: (Score:2)
You wanted examples and you also left out the black church they terrorized.
Re: (Score:3)
It is not "just a street brawl" if it is done by an organization with a goal to intimidate. Quite the opposite, this is the very definition of terrorism.
Re: (Score:2)
A "terrorist organization" is a non-state actor that specifically targets civilians with violence to terrorize a population into political compliance.
Re: (Score:1)
> And what is a "terrorist organization" to you?
[1]Here's a dictionary definition of terrorism. [dictionary.com]
Do you really believe that Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, Boko Haram, ISIL, etc., are not terrorists?
[1] https://www.dictionary.com/browse/terrorism
Re: (Score:3)
For some reason I'm struggling to identify the stand you are taking. Are you washing over the arbitrary or insupportable detainments by saying that sometimes they get it right? Or that game devs from other countries might be smuggling drugs or supporting terrorism? What, exactly, do you mean?
If it's that these border guard behaviors are fine with you, then say that. Not judging... just looking for clarity.
Re: (Score:3)
Loudly support terrorists or terrorist organizations or smuggle drugs, and consequences should indeed find you anywhere in the world.. regardless of your profession.
A friend got turned around at the border because he posted on facebook that he wasnt particularly fond of trump.
My dude. This is not "Consequences" , this is a war on free speech.
Re: (Score:1)
I totally agree people should be able to say negative things about Donald Trump or the US government, or even rail against them, and then not have that have consequences for their admittance into the USA. I even think they should be generally accepted into society and not get socially rejected for their views.
Do you feel the same way about right wing causes like being against abortion, gender ideology, Islam? Do you think that people with conservative views should not be cancelled?
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, but what does that have to do with people being afraid to go to the US right now? Are you under the impression that the crackdown on immigrants is primarily impacting terrorists and drug smugglers or people committing non-immigration related offenses in general?
'cos if you are, maybe it's time to put down the crack pipe. And by crack pipe I mean Fox News.
Re: (Score:2)
'cos if you are, maybe it's time to put down the crack pipe. And by crack pipe I mean Fox News.
Yep Fox, but also the crack pipe.