THE ROOM WHERE GAMES GET MADE
Global Games Show
The entire game development journey, under one roof.
- 23 - 24 November 2026
- ADNEC Centre, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- FUND & FOUND
- BUILD
- TEST & POLISH
- LAUNCH
- GROW
- OPERATE
Powered By
Destination Partner
Global Games Show 2026 is where the entire game development journey comes to life. Building on the success of its previous editions in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, which brought together 5000+ professionals from across the global games ecosystem, Global Games Show returns to Abu Dhabi with an expanded platform connecting the companies that fund, build, ship and grow games
Walk your game through six lifecycle zones. Discover the tools and platforms shaping production. Experience 30 to 50 playable unreleased games on Demo Alley. Gain insight from the studios that shipped and the platform teams that publish them. Build partnerships with the publishers, investors, technology providers and ecosystem partners actively shaping how games get made. Connect. Pitch. Partner. Shape the future of games.
5,000+
verified B2B delegates across two days, no consumer walk-ins
70%
C-level, founders, heads and directors
44%
game studios and developers, from AAA to indie
Why Global Games Show?
Whats's On
The Pitch Arena
Rapid Connect
Demo Alley
Hosted Buyer Lounge
Launch Clinic
48-Hour Game Jam
Attendee Profile
Studio heads, publishers, platform decision makers, the tools and services that ship games, and the Gulf capital deploying into them. Programmed into scheduled meetings across two days.
- C-level, founders and studio heads
- Producers, BD and corporate development
- Investors, funds and sovereign capital
- Platform and distribution leads
- Discipline leads in art, tech and design
- Government, policy and ecosystem
- Talent and recruitment
Event Essentials
2026 Tickets
Early Bird Tickets now available
29-30 June 2026・10,000 attendees
Sponsors
Partner with GGS in 2026
1,500+ companies・Global reach
Speakers
Take the GGS Stage
Influence Web3 Agenda・150+ voices
VIP
VIP Entry GGS in 2026
1,500+ companies・Global reach
Two days. Six zones. One journey.
A curated agenda for the seven asset classes that move global markets.
09:00
Registration & Coffee
THE NEXT FRONTIER OF GAMING ECONOMY
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
Abu Dhabi is putting real capital behind the studios it wants to exist. This keynote unpacks the funding vehicles, sovereign backing and public-private partnerships behind the region’s push to become a serious home for game development and what that bet actually buys.
- How government-backed funding is accelerating the growth of local studios
- What it takes to attract global talent, publishers and investors to Abu Dhabi
#GamingInvestment #GameDevelopment #AbuDhabiGaming
10:30
FIRESIDE
The Launch Playbook: What Makes Games Succeed in 2027
Game launches are becoming harder to predict with crowded marketplaces, changing player expectations and new monetization models reshaping what success looks like. This explores the strategies, technologies and player insights that can turn a game launch into a long-term success.
- Building anticipation and momentum before launch
- Using data and AI to understand players and optimize launch strategies
- Turning launch-day engagement into long-term retention and communities
Reserved for sponsor
#GameLaunch #GamingStrategy #PlayerEngagement
11:00
Fireside Chat
Games Are the New Cultural Language: The New Rules of Marketing
Gaming communities now move culture faster than traditional media ever did. This conversation looks at what it actually takes for brands to show up inside gaming spaces without breaking the trust that makes them work.
- Gaming communities as the new drivers of cultural influence
- Authentic brand engagement inside virtual and social spaces
- How IP, storytelling and interactivity redefine marketing
#GamingCulture #BrandStorytelling #NextGenMarketing
11:40
HEADLINER KEYNOTE
AI for Good: Human Values in the Age of Digital Consciousness
Speakers
- Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, Spiritual Leader, Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi
12:00
PANEL
AI-Powered Operations: How Automation Is Redesigning Financial Processes and Unlocking Human Potential
- How financial institutions are moving beyond traditional automation to deploy AI-driven workflows across operations, compliance, and customer service.
- How intelligent automation is improving efficiency, reducing manual processes and enabling faster, more accurate decision-making.
- How organizations are balancing automation with human expertise to enhance productivity and empower teams for strategic work.
CLOUD-AI
12:50
SPOTLIGHT SESSION
From Connectivity to Intelligence: Operationalizing AI in Telecom & Critical Infrastructure
13:10
KEYNOTE
Designing the AI-Native Cloud: Beyond Multi-Cloud to Autonomous Cloud
Cloud is evolving from a platform for applications to the foundation for autonomous AI. Explore how AI-native cloud architectures are enabling intelligent, self-optimizing and scalable digital ecosystems.
- Reserved for Sponsor
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
How AI is Redefining what it means to be a Developer
Being a developer isn’t what it used to be. But making games still lives or dies from iteration: does it feel fun, readable, surprising in your hands? Insights on how we built an AI‑native studio and redefined “developer” around shipping joy.
#AINativeDev #GameDevelopers #FutureofDev
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION:
AI, Creativity & Creator Rights: Building Responsible Game Development in the AI Era
Generative tools are already inside the pipeline: art, dialogue, even level layouts. This panel gets into who owns AI-assisted work, how studios stay honest with players and what “creator rights” means when a model did half the drawing.
- Who owns AI-assisted art, dialogue and level design
- Staying honest with players about AI’s role in the pipeline
- Defining “creator rights” in a co-created workflow
#AICreatorRights #ResponsibleAI #GameDevEthics
11:20
WORKSHOP
Hitting 60 FPS in UE5 and Keeping It There
A hands-on look at profiling and optimizing Unreal Engine 5 projects, where the frame-time actually goes and the fixes that hold up once you ship, not just in the editor.
- (Reserved for sponsor)
- Profiling techniques that reveal where frame-time really goes
- Optimization fixes that hold up post-launch, not just in the editor
- Practical, hands-on performance tuning for UE5 projects
#UE5 #GamePerformance #DevWorkshop
CYBER-AI
12:35
HEADLINER
When AI Agents Go Rogue: The Security Risks Nobody Is Talking About
Speakers
12:55
KEYNOTE
From Shadow to Spotlight: Building an AI Governance Strategy
Building trusted AI requires more than technology, it demands governance by design. Learn how organizations are creating secure frameworks that reduce risk, strengthen accountability and enable responsible AI adoption.
- Reserved for Sponsor
13:15
PANEL
The race between attackers and defenders is becoming increasingly autonomous. This discussion explores how AI is redefining cyber warfare, enabling faster defense and reshaping the future of digital security.
- Governing Agentic AI in cyber defense: human oversight, permission boundaries and accountability for AI-driven security actions.
- How are cybercriminals using generative AI to accelerate attacks, automate exploitation and create new threat vectors?
- How can organizations deploy AI-driven security systems to detect threats faster and strengthen cyber resilience?
- As AI battles AI, what new strategies, skills and technologies will define the future of digital defense?
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
GAMING FRONTIER: AI INNOVATION
10:10
OPENING KEYNOTE
Breaking into Untapped Gaming Markets
The next big player base isn’t always where studios expect it. Learn how developers identify untapped gaming markets early, what it takes to localize and build infrastructure for them and the lessons from studios that got there first.
#EmergingMarkets #GamingGrowth #GlobalExpansion
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION
AI & Future of Game Production: Navigating Emerging Trends & Technologies
Studio pipelines are being rebuilt around AI faster than most teams can adapt to. This panel looks at which tools are genuinely changing production, and how the workforce behind game creation is evolving alongside them.
- AI-driven pipelines and studio automation
- New tools shaping next-gen development
- Workforce evolution in game creation
#AIProduction #GameStudios #FutureOfWork
11:20
KEYNOTE
The State of the Games Industry 2027: Where Growth Really Is
- Reserved for sponsor
#GlobalGaming #AIDesign
11:40
HEADLINER KEYNOTE
AI for Good: Human Values in the Age of Digital Consciousness
Speakers
- Pujya Brahmavihari Swami, Spiritual Leader, Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir, Abu Dhabi
12:00
PANEL
AI-Powered Operations: How Automation Is Redesigning Financial Processes and Unlocking Human Potential
Discover how AI-powered automation is transforming financial operations by streamlining complex processes, improving accuracy, and freeing teams to focus on higher-value strategic priorities.
- How financial institutions are moving beyond traditional automation to deploy AI-driven workflows across operations, compliance, and customer service.
- How intelligent automation is improving efficiency, reducing manual processes and enabling faster, more accurate decision-making.
- How organizations are balancing automation with human expertise to enhance productivity and empower teams for strategic work.
CLOUD-AI
12:50
SPOTLIGHT SESSION
From Connectivity to Intelligence: Operationalizing AI in Telecom & Critical Infrastructure
13:10
KEYNOTE
Designing the AI-Native Cloud: Beyond Multi-Cloud to Autonomous Cloud
Cloud is evolving from a platform for applications to the foundation for autonomous AI. Explore how AI-native cloud architectures are enabling intelligent, self-optimizing and scalable digital ecosystems.
- Reserved for Sponsor
09:00
Registration & Coffee
10:00
Welcome to the Future: Global Games Show
10:10
KEYNOTE
The Next Decade of Game Development: Built by Humans, Powered by AI
A year into widespread AI adoption, what’s actually changed for developers and what hasn’t? A look at where automation genuinely speeds up production, where human craft still wins and what the next decade of game development looks like when both work together.
#FutureOfDev #AIinGames #GameStudios
10:30
PANEL DISCUSSION
Beyond the Build: Turning Your Studio into a Supercomputer
Compute has quietly become a studio’s biggest competitive lever. This panel gets into how teams are scaling infrastructure, rebuilding pipelines around AI, and turning what used to be a cost center into a genuine edge.
- Scaling compute and infrastructure inside a game studio
- Turning internal tooling into a competitive advantage
- Lessons from studios that rebuilt their pipeline around AI
#StudioInfrastructure #ComputeAtScale #GameDevTools
11:20
WORKSHOP
Tuning Your Unreal Engine 5 Game for Mobile Deployment
Porting a UE5 project to mobile means fighting a different set of constraints than console or PC. A hands-on walkthrough of the performance and battery trade-offs that decide whether your mobile port actually ships smoothly.
- Adapting UE5 projects for mobile hardware constraints
- Performance and battery trade-offs that matter at launch
- Practical steps for a smooth mobile port
#UE5 #MobileGameDev #DevWorkshop
- (Reserved for sponsor)
11:40
PANEL
Beyond the Forecast: AI, Cloud Seeding & the Future of Weather Intelligence
Weather intelligence beyond prediction: Explore how AI, advanced climate models and cloud seeding technologies are reshaping forecasting, water management and the way nations prepare for environmental challenges.
- How is AI improving weather forecasting, climate modelling, and the ability to predict extreme environmental events with greater accuracy?
- How are cloud seeding and emerging atmospheric technologies contributing to water security and climate resilience strategies?
- What role will real-time data, satellites, and intelligent systems play in shaping the future of weather management and environmental decision-making?
12:30
HEADLINER
Preparing for Q-Day: Rethinking Cybersecurity for the Quantum Age
Q-Day could redefine the rules of cybersecurity. Discover how public-private sectors are rethinking encryption, strengthening digital resilience and preparing for the future quantum capabilities challenge existing security models.
12:50
KEYNOTE
Accelerating AI Adoption: The CISO’s Blueprint from Strategy to Delivery
Moving AI from experimentation to enterprise scale requires security by design. Examine how CISOs are addressing governance, data protection, threat management, and operational readiness to accelerate responsible AI adoption.
- Reserved for Sponsor
13:10
PANEL
Zero Trust, Full Autonomy: Securing Critical Infrastructure in an Agentic Worl
Critical infrastructure is entering an era of autonomy and complexity. Explore how governments and industry leaders are strengthening cyber defenses through Zero Trust principles, intelligent security models and next-generation protection strategies.
- How does the rise of AI agents and autonomous systems change the way critical infrastructure must be protected?
- How are Zero Trust architectures, identity management and continuous verification strengthening security across essential networks?
- What cybersecurity strategies and technologies are needed to build resilient infrastructure in an increasingly autonomous world?
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The brands, funds and authorities backing the region's games agenda.
Book Your Pass
Limited seats
Senior executives, investors, publishers and decision-makers wanting premium access.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
MOST BOOKED
Corporates, brands, consultants and adjacent tech. Mandatory for non-exhibiting vendors and service providers.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
Developers, studio teams, indie devs, students and juniors, and general industry professionals.
- 2 Day Exhibition Access
- 2 Days Conference Access
- Access to Official Event App
- Complimentary Lunch & Refreshments
- Business Networking Zone
- VIP Lunch & Refreshments
- VIP / Speaker Lounge Access
- VIP Registration Desk
- VIP Reserved Seats in Conference
Attendee Testimonials
Truly reflects the future being built in UAE and what I really enjoyed about this event is the positive energy in the room. In regions where interactive entertainment is still growing, there’s excitement, optimism, and so much heart and that’s incredibly refreshing.
Former Chairman of PlayStation, The Odysseus Partnership
Global Games Show was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with industry peers and have meaningful discussions about how gaming, marketing, and AI are evolving. The quality of conversations and people here has been excellent.
CEO & Founder, Metica
Events like this are important because they bring together creators, marketers, and game builders to discuss where the industry is heading, especially around influencer-led and creator-driven marketing.
Founder & CEO, Game Influencer
As someone who recently launched a game, this event has been incredibly valuable. I met other starters, learned through meaningful conversations, and gained insights that will help shape my journey moving forward.
CEO, Rise of Fearless
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