This is honestly a very smart decision.

The United States is pretty fucked right now, especially if you are not a white male with blue eyes and blonde hair. The president's personal gestapo, better known as Ice, have been assaulting, abducting, arresting, disappearing, and straight up murdering people in what they claim is a crackdown on "illegal immigrants." This obviously isn't even counting the fact that people with gender-neutral passports are finding it harder and harder to enter the country thanks to a prior executive order from Trump telling the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female.

It probably stands to reason then that people living in other countries are a little weary of wanting to travel to the United States for any reason. This sentiment also obviously applies to game developers located outside the United States. According to the results of the 2026 State of the Game Industry survey, roughly one-third of the industry have cancelled travel plans to the United States.

The State of the Game Industry is an annual survey put out by GDC. According to the results of the latest survey, 31% of all respondents say that they have fully cancelled plans to travel to the United States. Another 33% of respondents say that they are considering cancelling future travel plans to the Untied States. Among LGBTQ+ developers, 47% say that they have cancelled plans to travel to the United States.

According to GDC executive director Mark DeLoura, there has not yet been any impact on ticket sales for GDC just yet. Despite DeLoura's claims, several developers and studios from the UK and other parts of Europe have already stated that they will not be attending this year's event. GDC 2026 is slated to take place from March 9th to March 13th.

I say this with all sincerity: Do not travel to the United States. Cancel your plans. The fear, the anxiety, and the risk of abduction, being sent to a "detention camp", and even the risk of being murdered by Ice is just too damn high. No amount of promotion or "networking" potential is worth coming here for.

Outside of the concerns of individual developers, the State of the Game Industry survey revealed that 60% of "non-US industry leaders and investors" have been impacted by current immigration policies in the United States. Specifically, at US-based companies with at least 20 employees: 18% of respondents say that they are unable to recruit or retain employees due to the current immigration and gender policies. 42% say that they have not been impacted by these policies. 40% say that they are unsure if they have been impacted.

For companies with at least 100 employees, 21% say that they have been impacted by current US policies. Another 38% say that they have not been impacted and 41% say that they are unsure if they have been impacted.

(Image via USA Today)