The executive summary: what GDC 2026 revealed about the future of games

Welcome to The Business of Games Podcast, brought to you by Xsolla.Every March, the games industry makes its pilgrimage to San Francisco. GDC isn't a fan show. It's where developers, executives, investors, and platform teams talk to each other about what's actually happening in the business of games.In this episode, Lia Ballentine flips the script. Xsolla President, Chris Hewish, freshly back from GDC 2026, takes the guest seat to share what he heard on the show floor, inside the Xsolla Clubhouse, and in the conversations between sessions that rarely make it into recap posts.The mood at GDC this year was what Chris describes as cautiously constructive. The turbulence of the past few years — layoffs, studio closures, a hard reset after pandemic-era expansion — hasn't disappeared from memory. But the tone has shifted. Developers have accepted the new market reality and are asking sharper, more practical questions: How do you build sustainably? How do you reach players directly? How do you harness AI without losing what makes games human?Chris walked those halls and had those conversations. In this episode, he brings those insights to life, including perspectives from developers and industry voices he connected with on the ground.What you'll learn:Why GDC 2026 felt different and what "cautiously constructive" actually means for the industryHow AI has moved from theoretical to practical inside real production pipelinesWhy direct-to-player kept surfacing as a through-line across sessions and conversationsWhat the investment climate looks like now, and where capital is starting to flow againHow the most forward-looking studios are shifting from linear development to parallel workflowsWhat one takeaway from GDC 2026 should shape how you build your games business in the year aheadLet's get into it.For more insights and resources, visit xsolla.com/podcast. Want to join the conversation? Follow and comment on our LinkedIn page at The Business of Games Podcast. That’s where we’ll be sharing updates, highlights, and continuing the discussion. And don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share the podcast with friends who want to learn more about the business of games.