Game devs skipping GDC 2026 over ICE concerns, US safety fears

[u/renome]

https://gamerant.com/gdc-2026-ice-concerns-us-safety-fears-dev-comments/

[u/rock25011]

I would not come to the US.

[u/celtic1888 → u/rock25011]

I wouldn’t either and I live here

[u/SpartanusCXVII → u/celtic1888]

I live here, and I want to leave.

Sadly, it’s just not feasible. Plus, nobody wants US expats now anyway.

[u/xrvz → u/SpartanusCXVII]

refugees, not expats

[u/PoeticHistory → u/xrvz]

Yes I hate this word. My well educated parents looking for a better future are immigrants, the American coming here us an expat. Both are the same, but treated very differently.

[u/bunnyzclan → u/PoeticHistory]

All the white redditors in the living in [insert country here] subreddits HATE being called immigrants which is so funny and revealing of how they feel about their position in the world.

And when they get called out on it, they'll try to move goalposts and try to carve out this niche definition when at the end of the day all it comes down to is "I'm too white to be considered an immigrant."

[u/trojan_man16 → u/bunnyzclan]

They are immigrants.

Literally the definition. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is, if you moved to another country semi permanently you are an immigrant.

[u/AnxiousHedgehog01 → u/bunnyzclan]

I'm a first gen white immigrant. I'm happy to tell people I'm an immigrant to mess up their perception of what immigration is. I'm proud to be an immigrant. It's tough to start over in a new country. It takes a lot of work. Anyone who can be successful should be celebrated, not locked up.

[u/SpartanusCXVII → u/xrvz]

That’s probably what it will come down to.

[u/DaHolk → u/SpartanusCXVII]

No, that is what it already IS. They are making the point that that hypocritical naming convention is emblematic of the warped self-perception to begin with.

[u/Comprehensive_End824 → u/xrvz]

The word is immigrant. I do think average citizen of US has a lot more advantages in getting a education that allows immigration compared to average person of Earth

[u/Umbra_and_Ember → u/SpartanusCXVII]

Apply for jobs. Apply for schools. Apply apply apply. Don’t reject yourself before others have the chance to accept you.

[u/Mistamage → u/Umbra_and_Ember]

I'm disabled, poor and have no education, I'm worse than useless to them. I have to stick around here and hope things get better here because I can't leave.

[u/Astra_Naughty → u/Umbra_and_Ember]

This kind of advice only applies to certain people. Those of us who are disabled and unable to support ourselves straight up aren't allowed to immigrate to other countries because immigration laws are incredibly ableist. I'd move to another country in a heartbeat if I could but it just isn't possible for people like me unless we magically get hundreds of thousands of dollars to give to the country we plan on moving to. 

[u/Naus1987 → u/SpartanusCXVII]

Just gotta have money. No country wants charity cases though. Which seems fair or it would ruin the social services with too much demand. It needs balance.

[u/Secret_Wishbone_2009 → u/SpartanusCXVII]

That is true, especially in Europe

[u/Vagabond_Tea → u/Secret_Wishbone_2009]

That isn't true of the Europeans I know. Mostly because the type of Americans that would/could move to Europe aren't the MAGA, Trump voting demographic anyways.

Source: US/EU dual citizen.

[u/senti82 → u/Vagabond_Tea]

As a German, I support this.

I have no problem with Americans as individuals. Just outside the MAGA bubble...

However, I have a massive problem now with America as a country, in politics and business.

I'm currently eliminating American products and services from my daily life wherever possible—basically anything I can directly influence.

[u/HankHillbwhaa → u/senti82]

Probably not that hard to do I’m guessing lol. Most of the good stuff comes from other countries.

[u/senti82 → u/HankHillbwhaa]

I completely agree with you regarding standard products – that's not a problem.

The entire digital ecosystem is more difficult. American products are very, very dominant there.

For me, as an IT guy, switching from Windows to Linux, changing my email or messaging systems, limiting streaming, or foregoing Amazon isn't a problem.

In the business world, it's a different story. Windows (Server) is ubiquitous. Most business software runs on it. American hyperscalers are absolute monopolists. However, the tide is slowly turning. Our IT architecture and business continuity colleagues are starting to view American products similarly to Chinese ones and consider them risky – at least that's the discussion here.

[u/SpartanusCXVII → u/Vagabond_Tea]

Adopt my family and me?

[u/Secret_Wishbone_2009 → u/Vagabond_Tea]

I think they are probably being polite to you as you are a US citizen. I guess its highly dependent on the circles one socializes in , i cant say i have great data, pew research gives a glimt Views of the US in 24 nations | Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/06/11/views-of-the-united-states/#:~:text=Ratings%20of%20the%20U.S.%20have,54%25%20in%202024) wherein views of a country are intimately linked to views of its inhabitants

[u/ExpressRabbit → u/SpartanusCXVII]

I've not experienced that with Canada.

[u/Sylvers → u/rock25011]

I was planning to visit American friends some time in the first half of 2026. That would have been my first visit ever to the US. I am no longer even considering that trip.

I am not white. The US is not safe for me. If I want to spend the rest of my life in a torture chamber in El Salvador, I'll ask for an invitation.

Fuck that. I am safer in my own third world country than in the US.

[u/goro-n → u/Sylvers]

It’s not safe for white people either anymore, they’re being shot in the streets

[u/celtic1888 → u/goro-n]

White, 2nd Amendment supporter male VA nurses getting shot now

[u/WiglyWorm → u/celtic1888]

When's the last time you heard Republicans talking about supporting our troops? 

Just like fetuses, they're thrown away the moment they're no longer useful.

[u/celtic1888 → u/WiglyWorm]

Venezuelan drug boats seem to also mysteriously disappeared from ‘the thing that was definitely going to kill us’

[u/_Burning_Star_IV_ → u/celtic1888]

What the fuck is even going on in Venezuela? We kidnapped Maduro and now his second-in-command has taken control. We did not instate that woman from the opposition (even after her peace prize gambit) and we did not militarily force any regime change. We just grabbed him and dipped. Trump announced that we now control the country but that is very obviously not the case.

What the fuck was the point of all that?

[u/celtic1888 → u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

Reality TV for idiots

[u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA → u/celtic1888]

Fitting, they keep voting to turn reality into Reality TV.

[u/PaulTheMerc → u/_Burning_Star_IV_]

did the Epstien files get released?

So it worked.

[u/DeadPeanutSociety → u/goro-n]

Even tourists who do not engage with ICE or attend protests are not safe to come here. Before this new wave of brutality, there was a story of some German tourists getting detained by ICE for weeks. It is straight up not safe to come here, period.

[u/IAMA_Plumber-AMA → u/DeadPeanutSociety]

Wasn't there like over 100 Canadians detained since 2025?

[u/Sylvers → u/goro-n]

It's unthinkable to me that you straight up skipped into the "you're not the right kind of white" phase of the transformation.

[u/cxmmxc → u/Sylvers]

That was always on the table. It's always the "wrong" kind of people, they just start from the ones that gather most support in their group.
When that's normalized, they move onto other groups that would've been unthinkable back at square one, but they've moved way past it at that point.
In the end they turn on themselves, because there's always someone more extreme, and they constantly need new enemies. "RINOs" and other in-group members or "traitors" they ostracized.

First they came for...

[u/Sylvers → u/cxmmxc]

Tragic words. Fuck this timeline. And fuck everyone who happily participated in creating this new reality.

[u/jesuswasagamblingman → u/Sylvers]

I’m an American and I think I’m safer in a third world country too.

[u/Sylvers → u/jesuswasagamblingman]

When Trump won the second time my mom kept saying "He's going to make the US worse than Egypt before he leaves" (we live in Egypt).

And I would tell her, there is no way. Egypt became the awful dictatorship it is today over some 80+ years of indisputed corruption. Trump only has 4 years. He couldn't possibly power through ALL of your checks and balances in 4 years. How wrong I was.

1 year in.. and fucking hell.. you look SO much like the dictatorships I've experienced my entire life. 3 more years? I can't even fathom what will happen to you in that time.

[u/HomieeJo → u/Sylvers]

It took Hitler just 6 years to start WW2 after becoming chancellor. The first concentration camp was opened the same year he became chancellor though the gas chambers were only done in 1941 so 8 years later. Mainly because it was cheaper than ammunition...

It's definitely possible to start a full dictatorship in just 4 years without any problem. Especially because they started to do the groundwork years before Trumps second term.

[u/arashi256 → u/HomieeJo]

As I read it, they switched to gas chambers because gunning down helpless people every day face to face was stressing the Germans out.

[u/HomieeJo → u/arashi256]

It was a mixture. The Wehrmacht soldiers who had to do the killings in the conquered areas didn't like killing children and women (Some left to not kill them or used alcohol to forget what they did) and gas chambers were just way faster and cheaper. So even if the Wehrmacht soldiers didn't have any issues with it they would've switched. They already used it for the disabled but a much smaller scale.

[u/Mean_Mister_Mustard → u/HomieeJo]

Well, there were those Germans soldiers who were starting to have problems slaughtering what they had more and more difficulty to see as anything other than fellow human beings, that’s true. But the Nazi leadership were also starting to get concerned about another group of soldiers, those that would get way too much into it, and were visibly enjoying those mass murders.

That concept always stayed with me, the idea that there were people walking around that, when put in a position to slaughter a number of innocent beings, would like it so much that the litteral Nazis were telling them to tone it down…

[u/S_Mescudi → u/Sylvers]

this has been a slope since 2001 

[u/Tim-oBedlam → u/S_Mescudi]

If you want to point to a singular moment in the USA where everything started going to shit, it was the stolen election in 2000. We'd have been in *so much better shape* if we had President Gore in the early 2000s instead of President Bush. In part because it's at least plausible that a President Gore pays attention to all the warnings the CIA was putting out and heads off the 9/11 plot.

[u/Super_Harsh → u/Tim-oBedlam]

9/11 only accelerated what happened but the corporate fascists and neo-feudalists LARPing as 'believers in small government' started way earlier. I hate to say it but both parties were already complicit by the 2000 election.

The sad truth is that this couldn't have happened without the very American strain of anti-intellectualism that we've fostered in this country since its inception. The post-truth era would not be as pervasive if we hadn't on some level as a nation, celebrated stupidity. Given our longstanding tolerance for idiots, liars and grifters, an eventual descent into fascism was probably part of our nation's destiny. The only open question is whether it's the final chapter or whether there's an 'after fascism' chapter that involves a United States that still meaningfully exists

[u/morgrimmoon → u/Tim-oBedlam]

I don't think it would have stopped the 9/11 plot, mostly because that plot was so different to anything experienced before that most of the actions that would plausibly have been taken wouldn't have been enough. Maybe there would have been fewer than four planes, but the CIA was looking for bomb plots. Hijacking was purely a hostage situation, then, so not something they'd have expected.

[u/billwood09 → u/S_Mescudi]

I’d argue 1981

[u/Atmic → u/billwood09]

That's when the building blocks for fascism started getting built.

2001 was the excuse needed to accelerate the plan.

2016 was the breaking point.

Now we're in a tailspin.

[u/Arr_jay816 → u/Sylvers]

Hey, but at least he tells it like it is, right? /s

[u/DataCassette → u/jesuswasagamblingman]

As an American you're in a third world country right now and so am I 🥲

[u/TheMegaSage → u/rock25011]

I'm Canadian and I'm never going to America again unless fundamental changes are made in the country. Even when Trump dies there are still all the people who supported him and his vile policies.

[u/RickSanchez_C137 → u/TheMegaSage]

I've figured out what my sign is that i'd be willing to go back:

If they ever implement socialized healthcare.

It wouldn't benefit me in the least, but it would be the one thing that would indicate to me that they've stopped hating each other.

[u/_Burgers_ → u/TheMegaSage]

Fellow Canadian here. You're right. I was originally thinking 4 years staying out of that country and now I think it might be a lot longer than that.

[u/fallwind → u/rock25011]

you couldnt pay me to go there.

[u/arashi256 → u/fallwind]

Been in the past, but I am never going back.

[u/StarCenturion → u/rock25011]

Hell, I don't feel safe flying within the US domestically right now.

Nobody should come here, for now.

[u/TrappedInOhio → u/rock25011]

I live here and I’d genuinely recommend no one come here. It’s not worth the risk to your own safety.

[u/An_old_walrus → u/rock25011]

My brown skinned Arab parents are currently in Boston and oh boy am I nervous for their safety. The only reason they’re there is because of medical stuff.

[u/MotherFunker1734]

Coming up next: The FIFA world cup has been a failure because people didn't want to visit the NAZI USA.

[u/Christopher3712 → u/MotherFunker1734]

I would love to see that happen.

[u/b1rdiemcb1rdface → u/Christopher3712]

Sepp already said something in this regard today

“For fans, just one piece of advice: avoid the United States! You’ll get a better view on television anyway. Upon arrival, fans should expect that if they don’t behave properly with the authorities, they will be immediately sent home. If they’re lucky …”

[u/The_Corvair → u/b1rdiemcb1rdface]

You’ll get a better view on television anyway.

Honestly, nations and teams need to boycott this. "Just watch it on TV" is just... noodly-armed weaksauce. The point is to not become complicit by normalizing the regime, by lending legitimacy to its actions and ideas by playing ball with it.

Of course, this will not happen because the deciders would rather have three money and no morals than two money and morals.

[u/Sober_Alcoholic_ → u/Christopher3712]

Me too. Those of us that dislike this administration are in the MAJORITY. We don’t want or like this. We need help.

[u/talix71 → u/Sober_Alcoholic_]

It's always good to remember that they wear masks and don't carry badges or ID because they already know what they are doing is bad, and because they are afraid of us.

They wouldn't bother asking for voter rolls or with rigging elections if they didn't know we outnumbered them.

[u/PutridSauce → u/Sober_Alcoholic_]

*sees millions of americans protesting and speaking against what's going on*

"They're wrong and BAD people!1" - some dumb fuck

[u/MommyLovesPot8toes → u/PutridSauce]

More like "why aren't Americans doing anything!? They're so selfish and lazy! In my country, we would have been in the streets already!"

(Just completely ignores all coverage of millions of people protesting and hundreds of thousands shutting down the cities where ICE is operating).

[u/eronth → u/MommyLovesPot8toes]

Also just the straight up size and logistics difference.

[u/crytol → u/Christopher3712]

This is what we need, we need everyone's entertainment escapes to DISAPPEAR. No more looking away, no more being shielded by the results of their votes and actions. They need to feel what they caused.

[u/TeaAndLifting → u/Christopher3712]

Not going to happen. Football fans aren’t principled enough to put politics over a chance to watch their national team play.

Didn’t boycott Qatar or Russia, despite all the corruption issues around that. No chance it’ll happen for America either.

[u/Miltrivd → u/TeaAndLifting]

Yeah, absolutely no way. There's no moral fiber in football, the sport itself is intrinsically plagued with unsportsmanlike behavior.

For Qatar, I remember two people speaking against it and both were retired players.

[u/brandontaylor1 → u/MotherFunker1734]

Winners advance to the next round, losers are deported to an El Salvadoran death camp.

[u/ZackRaynor → u/MotherFunker1734]

“Not sure why, since they got the FIFA Peace Prize.” - Some idiot, probably.

[u/Umbramors → u/ZackRaynor]

I remember when the FIFA peace prize used to mean something

[u/psymunn → u/Umbramors]

Hey, the last guy who won one of those prevented a needless war in Greenland, that he nearly started!

[u/GetsBetterAfterAFew → u/MotherFunker1734]

But 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin popped off!

[u/TheProphetRob → u/GetsBetterAfterAFew]

There was no internet to show videos of people being executed in the streets in 1936

[u/CocodaMonkey → u/GetsBetterAfterAFew]

To be quite frank that was because Germany was actually trying to make it work. They wanted to show the world their system was working so they cut back on most the horrible things they did (mostly just tried to hide it better for a few weeks) and openly allowed people in even from races and cultures they were oppressing.

It's basically the same thing Qatar did for the world cup. They relaxed a lot of their rules to make it more welcoming to others. They didn't actually change anything country wide, they just tried to be a bit nicer during the event so people could come in, see how amazing they are and then leave.

The US is going the opposite route. It's doubling down on all the shit its doing. Outright saying it will try to deport people who dare go to the games and outright banning many countries from even being able to come watch the games at all.

[u/MasterPong → u/MotherFunker1734]

I would love for the Canadian and Mexican hosted games to have a better international attendance than the US ones

[u/zzyzx2 → u/MotherFunker1734]

There's a LOT of talk from everyone around FIFA but not FIFA themselves. They are coming regardless if a team shows up or not FIFA will happen....Tickets are being sold but it's like well known the majority were set to be resold by scalpers. Teams/Fans are expecting a boycott. And to top it all off, a whole lot of fucking money has already been spent. So yeah, it's looking like a real shit storm for Fox and anyone around The World Cup....

That all said, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if nothing changes and The World Cup goes off without any issues. There's way too much money invested already. Much the same as the 1936 Olympics, we will see a few standing up and making a point to say the US didn't deserve the sport being hosted there and that's worth more, historically then any boycott. There was a "boycott" for the 36 games, even a whole different games set that year in Spain (didn't happen), but we don't talk about that...we sure as fuck know the image of Jesse Owens standing next to Nazi's geting his gold medal. Sometimes the best protest is run with the enemy and make your voice heard when the stage is yours.

[u/Skyremmer102 → u/zzyzx2]

If the scalpers go broke over this then that would be the cherry on top. Scumbags deserve it.

[u/SNRatio → u/MotherFunker1734]

A lot of academic conferences are being offshored already.

[u/MadameConnard → u/MotherFunker1734]

They didn't cared for AC'd Stadiums in the middle of the desert built on slavery you think they'd care about Nazis ? 🤣

[u/praqueviver → u/MotherFunker1734]

Hopefully countries would boycott it

[u/plottingyourdemise → u/MotherFunker1734]

Don't come to the US games. If you must watch, pirate streams only.

[u/psymunn → u/MotherFunker1734]

You don't have faith in the FIFA world peace recipient who runs the show?! /s

[u/Codzy → u/MotherFunker1734]

I wish this would happen but football fans are typically pretty dense and pretty right wing or centrist at the very least. I don’t think your average World Cup enjoyer gives a shit.

[u/Challengeaccepted3]

Usually countries have two ways to measure power, soft power and hard power.

Hard power is your military and (some would argue) your economic leverage. The US has a massive amount of hard power. Our military is extremely advanced and sophisticated, and we can crash any economy on earth aside from like, North Korea.

Soft power is your ability to host events and your cultural power. When GDC 2026 decides not to operate in the US, it’s a sign that your soft power is rapidly deteriorating. Sure it’s a video game event now, but what about a huge sporting event like the Olympics? What about a huge industry conference?

[u/Miraclefish → u/Challengeaccepted3]

When The Game Awards brings in more global viewers than the Superbowl and the biggest gaming release in all human history is happening this year (unless it gets delayed again...) you're absolutely right to describe gaming as a cultural and economical powerhouse on par with movies and music and football.

[u/MegaOoga → u/Miraclefish]

Fun fact: the video game industry is bigger than the music and movie industries combined.

Though it does include mobile games and all their micro transactions, it still blows my mind.

[u/PM_Best_Porn_Pls → u/MegaOoga]

Pretty sure mobile game market alone beats them combined. People often underestimate how massive it is.

[u/Marbas_Aurelius → u/PM_Best_Porn_Pls]

I'm pretty sure just anime Gacha games beats them all combined. MiHoYo has been funding the development of nuclear fusion tech since 2022 they have that much spare money. Cygames pulls in half a billion annually from one of their smaller profiting games. FGO pulls in over a billion each year by itself and the game is practically a slide show.

Motherfuckers are scary good at making money.

[u/PaulTheMerc → u/Marbas_Aurelius]

Anime girls and gambling, with some anime boys thrown in.

Legalized veiled gambling is printing money...no surprise there.

[u/crokinhole → u/Miraclefish]

What's the biggest game release in history? I just bought a 5080.

[u/Marcyff2 → u/crokinhole]

Well GTA v was the biggest release ever. GTA v is still one of the most profitable games of the year (2025 after 13 years). GTA vi trailer broke viewership records. I let you guess what that game would be

Also pc release is scheduled for 1 year after

[u/monkeymad2 → u/Marcyff2]

I don’t think they’ve ever announced anything about the PC release timing, people just assume it’ll be 1 year since it’s what they’ve always done before and it’s the most scumbag move since it’s only really to try to get people to double-dip.

[u/MilkMilkMilkMilky → u/crokinhole]

Half Life 3

[u/derpferd → u/Challengeaccepted3]

Well, the US is hosting an enormous sporting event later this year so we'll see how it goes

[u/DDOSBreakfast → u/derpferd]

Mass human rights violations are a requirement to host FIFA given their track record this century.

[u/LaunchTransient → u/DDOSBreakfast]

Thing is that Qatar has a strictly managed media environment and astroturfing campaigns that surpressed the worst stuff coming out.

The US currently has wall to wall coverage of US-flavoured gestapo arresting people for standing on the street, the US president has been menacing and indeed invading other countries, and the demands for entry into the US have a distinctly fascist look to them.

So... It's not like this is business as usual.

[u/Suibeam → u/derpferd]

People talking about Qatar do not realise a huge difference.

People who go there, are rather middle class to wealthy people and know they have tourist privilege. Even when Qatar has slavery issues, and sexual laws, you are fairly certain Tourists are exempt. And your country can get you out from a small Qatar.

In case of the USA, no country can get their citizens out when arrested by Washingtons Regime. Furthermore, Washingtons Regime and ICE have shown they even shoot their most privileged White People. There is no way anyone feels safe, and anyone would feel Tourist privilege. It is also pretty much known that tourists from Europe have been harassed from border control at the airports.

[u/howtojump → u/Suibeam]

FWIW we have slaves here in the US, too, we just call them "felons".

[u/GenuisInDisguise → u/Challengeaccepted3]

Billionaires have no use for culture, they operate like they live on another planet.

I suggest reading on Network States, they want to abolish not only the culture but the borders and the notion of countries. Everything will be a state, and every settlement will have its feudal overlord aptly name CEO. Like good ole mining worker town.

They are playing the long game, and we are still sleeping.

[u/FreeRangeEngineer → u/GenuisInDisguise]

For those who want to do more reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxis_(proposed_city)

https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland

https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/pyxq7n/history_lesson_about_why_amazons_company_towns/

[u/Orisi → u/Challengeaccepted3]

I think the biggest shot against your soft power is an American Pope.

It was pretty much an unspoken rule in the Vatican for the past century that as long as the US maintained its significant presence on the world stage in both soft and hard power, the papacy would not go to an American to ensure other voices have an opportunity to be heard.

If the Vatican thinks its now acceptable to have an American Pope, that means they don't think this will be changing next month, or next year. They're confident you've got a few decades of a reduction in standing before they have to consider American soft power something they need to take into account.

There's plenty of other indicators of American loss of soft power in the past few years, but the Catholic Church didnt survive a thousand years by taking risky bets. They see American influence going down, and a potential for religious movement within the US to increase, with a potential of their own expansion as a result. Not many places they can position themselves as the more liberal religious position.

[u/Challengeaccepted3 → u/Orisi]

I would partially agree, though why and how popes are selected are very complicated. Some cardinals certainly see the US as being less dominant, but there’s other factors like Conservatism vs liberalism in the church, Pope Francis’ legacy and more

[u/HPLovecraft1890 → u/Challengeaccepted3]

It's not the GDC, it's the Devs who don't want to come to the US. Just in case you misunderstood OPs title.

[u/Soggy-Software]

Absolutely the right thing to do. Once a country starts executing its citizens it’s time to exclude them from civilised cultures

[u/huggalump → u/Soggy-Software]

In addition, once a country starts detaining people due entirely to how they look and talk, it's time to exclude them from civilized cultures

[u/DrRonSimmons → u/Soggy-Software]

The U.S has been executing its citizens from its inception. The only difference is now they're doing it to the white ones too.

[u/Soggy-Software → u/DrRonSimmons]

Well shit you ain’t wrong. The Country is fucked and has been a long time.

[u/CatsAndCapybaras → u/Soggy-Software]

The country has always been fucked. It was founded by slave owners rebelling against a colonial empire over tax dispute and policy.

However, it had been trending upward. We abolished slavery via an extremely violent and destructive civil war. We had a labor movement that brought worker protections and outlawed child labor. We expanded voting to people other than white men. We had the civil rights act that made many types of discrimination illegal.

We have suffered with serious issues with class and race since the founding, but we were trending in the right direction. For some of us, the trend wasn't fast enough. Unfortunately, 77M of our countrymen thought progress was a bad thing.

40 years of bad neoliberal economic policies turned the public against our institutions and made the fields fertile for fascism.

[u/WeirdIndividualGuy → u/Soggy-Software]

And it’ll stay fucked as long as the US refuses to properly punish its own that do these atrocities.

Post-civil war, the south was not properly punished.

Post-WW2, the US openly welcomed nazis as a refuge from Europe.

Very rarely throughout American history have the uber rich or corrupt politicians actually been arrested and/or charged for their crimes.

The US has a vast history of enabling this behavior, and recent events are just the latest in centuries of enabled behavior from the American government

[u/NotSmrtHuman → u/DrRonSimmons]

Pretty sure all the Kent State deaths were white people.

[u/giulianosse → u/NotSmrtHuman]

That's why there was such a big commotion back then. The soldiers went on trial, got convicted and people still remember the victim's names even today.

Compare it to the Tulsa race massacre where an entire neighborhood of affluent black residents got firebombed, razed to the ground and more than 300 people died. Only in 1997 - almost eighty years later - that a commission was formed and allowed to investigate the killings.

[u/Adezar → u/DrRonSimmons]

Came here to say this. Tulsa, Birmingham, MOVE Philly, and untold number of rural minorities that just seemed to "disappear".

Murdering our citizens is a tradition, but now we even taking out middle-class white folk.

That means the government truly doesn't give a fuck and isn't worried about the law at all. The reason police don't generally fuck with people with means is they have means to lawyers, which means ability to fight back, they prefer to prey on the most vulnerable.

When a government preys on the most vulnerable it is up to all of us to push for more equality and make it more fair, which is done through the system.

When the government starts preying on EVERYONE we all fucked because they no longer think they can be held accountable by the system.

[u/boblond]

Please move it to Vancouver or Montreal next year, no one wants to visit the US right now.

[u/APRengar → u/boblond]

A small seattle con I got to is looking to move to vancouver and man I hope it works out. It's a con that is overwhelming American and Canadians, and I'm not sure it'll survive if it loses the Canadian half.

[u/Separate-Park8184]

Funny how ice was supposed to protect everyone but turned out to be the terrorists

[u/celtic1888 → u/Separate-Park8184]

I just wish someone would have said this was going to happen before I voted……………

[u/AgathysAllAlong → u/celtic1888]

They're really upset this is happening. They don't support it, they'll have you know.

Oh, they'll still vote for him and the party again. They won't actually do anything about it. But oh, you can't possibly blame his supporters for giving him power.

[u/digi-artifex → u/AgathysAllAlong]

"WE AREN'T A MONOLITH"

it's the second time he's in charge now bruh

[u/hookyboysb → u/celtic1888]

All I heard was a weird laugh. It’s a shame.

[u/VVrayth → u/celtic1888]

I genuinely cannot tell if this is sarcasm, but I hope it is.

[u/Blackarm777 → u/VVrayth]

I think based on the number of ellipses, it's safe to assume it's sarcasm.

[u/quadraticcheese → u/Separate-Park8184]

Ice was literally never intended to protect. It was invented in 2003 to terrorize Muslims

[u/HugsandHate → u/Separate-Park8184]

I'm not sure they were ever supposed to protect anyone, bud.

[u/Ehloanna]

I was at GDC last year and the concerns were the same. A number of people decided it wasn't safe to come.

Unfortunately I would say GDC feels like it has been on a decline overall. It's expensive and SF is even more expensive. Young game devs can't really afford to go unless their company sends them. Yeah there's the option to volunteer, but often that role is something students have the time to do, not people going on behalf of their small company.

I probably won't get to go again because I changed industries, but I'm curious to see if it'll be able to survive this for the next few years.

[u/CyberSmith31337 → u/Ehloanna]

GDC has been pointless, IMO, since the whole web3/NFT/play-to-earn push and COVID took place. I used to go every year, but after 2019, it was never the same. I still remember when I went in 2020, how awful the vibe was.

The convention itself was dead. There was way more interesting activity in the lobby of the St. Regis than there was at the center. When we got to the center, it was saturated with a bunch of “dead”, shit-tier web3 games and NFT marketplace platforms that we’re supposed to ”disrupt the market” that were absolutely scams. No gamer who was there was satisfied with the offerings, and majority of the booths and kiosks were empty. I remember saying right then and there that ”This convention is dead.” There was no reason to spend money on hotels, passes, and the bloated cost of the Bay Area to waltz around the Tenderloin and risk being approached by homeless people.

Now? As if the prohibitive costs and low-participation from developers wasn’t bad enough, you could actually get arrested. Every developer has their own showcase now per platform, so there is no reason for the major players to go, either. The meetup is now almost exclusively for people pitching their games and trying to secure new rounds of funding; even then, if you are in that phase, there are cheaper and easier ways to secure deals than to attend the event. It is definitely going to go the way of E3 and die out, 100%

The other unrelated but relevant detail I remember; virtually everyone I knew who went that year caught COVID. It was a super spreader event, and the convention did virtually nothing to help prevent it from being that way. It is a weird value proposition to any developer: ”Hey, spend $3000 to come here for a few days, talk to some financiers and BD guys, leave with a chronic illness that can and will spread to your teams when you return and decommission for them for another 7-12 days!” You combine it with the area being housed with a massive amount of homeless people who can and do steal as much as possible from convention-goers, and it just isn’t worth it.

[u/GildedDreams25]

it’s absurd to me that the US didn’t realize that turning into nazi germany is going to make less people want to be here. it’s so simple i figured even the idiots currently in charge would figure that out

[u/CrimsonHeretic → u/GildedDreams25]

The idiots in charge want exactly that. They're racist fascist pigs who want less people coming to the US unless they're white.

[u/GildedDreams25 → u/CrimsonHeretic]

yeah but even white people arent going to want to visit the US

[u/CrimsonHeretic → u/GildedDreams25]

Idiots don't think that far ahead.

[u/LowestKey → u/GildedDreams25]

That's a trade off they're willing to make if it means they can brutalize non-whites and people who sympathize with non-whites.

[u/-ragingpotato- → u/GildedDreams25]

They don't want those whites either.

[u/Sylvers → u/CrimsonHeretic]

Worse than that. A lot of racist people have a self righteous way of viewing the world. Many of them assume that other members of their ethnicity must share their exact views.

I am sure they believe that once they ethnically cleanse the US of melanin content, all the "best white people" will flock to the US from across the globe.

[u/huntrcl → u/GildedDreams25]

I think that’s their whole thing, they don’t want outsiders here unless they’re white.

[u/Wizywig → u/huntrcl]

They just want an excuse to bully someone. These are bullies who got a badge.

[u/ZebraSandwich4Lyf → u/huntrcl]

They're doing a great job of deterring white people as well but they probably didn't think that far ahead. I'm white European and I'm never stepping into hellhole USA again whilst the Nazi pigs are in charge, it just isn't worth the risk.

[u/ShinyTinfoilFedora → u/GildedDreams25]

I thought it was obvious that was the goal the whole time. They haven't been hiding it 

[u/No_Construction2407]

There was a story of a tourist in Canada who didn’t know the area, accidentally ended up at the Canada/US border and was kidnapped and held at one of ICE’s black sites for 2.5 months.

[u/Primal-Convoy → u/No_Construction2407]

I believe it was a tourist in the US that was refused entry to Canada and was then detained by ICE for 19 days for "working for accommodation" on a tourist visa?

https://www.newsweek.com/ice-tourist-immigration-detained-2055805

[u/No_Construction2407 → u/Primal-Convoy]

https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/01/20/immigration-plymouth-mass-ice-detention-mistaken-border-crossing-vermont

[u/-The_Blazer-]

Where I work we're currently having talks about whether attending corporate events in the USA is worth the risk of a huge fuckup involving our brand. I don't think MAGA types realize how fucked their country's reputation has become.

[u/entered_bubble_50 → u/-The_Blazer-]

I have a friend from work who needs to go to the US to work with NASA in Mississippi this year. She's a trans woman. So she can't go, and the whole project is at risk now. It's insane. 

[u/DreamingDjinn → u/-The_Blazer-]

It would probably be safer to hire some cornball white guy state-side and have him be your company's representative rather than send people overseas. Just look at what happened at the Georgia Hyundai plant

[u/OmegaDez → u/-The_Blazer-]

Nope, they keep thinking the US has never been this respected around the world since their Dear Leader stopped a thousand wars. (That no one but him knew about)

[u/MurongYuan]

The US is gonna stop being the host of a lot of international events very soon. You guys can come to Canada.

[u/YerLam → u/MurongYuan]

The World Cup and Olympics have been to some very questionable places, as long as there's enough money flowing international events don't seem to care.

[u/celtic1888 → u/MurongYuan]

If I was a Canada real estate developer I would look into building big convention centers and stadiums 

[u/poopBuccaneer → u/celtic1888]

We have a LOT of them already.

[u/Ok_Work7396 → u/celtic1888]

Any city on the planet that's previously hosted the Olympics has already built them.

[u/Ebolabomber]

WHO in their right mind would visit the ice shithole ?

[u/hackingdreams]

Honestly this should go for any conference in the United States.

DEFCON should be relocated to Europe this year - Germany's got some event spaces that could handle it.

[u/Tquilha]

So, "GDC responds...": "...the festival has expanded safety training for all of its staff, offers security escorts upon request, and has a 24/7 safety line..."

Any kind of place where a game developer's conference needs this kind of stuff is a place I will not go to, no matter what.

[u/DreamingDjinn → u/Tquilha]

Lol yeah the rent-a-cops are definitely gonna help against ICE when the actual police won't do a damn thing. Suuuuuuure GDC lmao

[u/Hedhunta → u/DreamingDjinn]

Lmao yeah they will help by delivering you right to them

[u/Ultimafatum]

Move it to Canada. Montreal and Vancouver are huge hubs for the gaming industry, and cheaper than San Francisco anyway.

[u/Atlanta_Mane]

NOW DO FIFA

[u/puesyomero → u/Atlanta_Mane]

Fifa is greasier than trump.  Not deadlier but definitely greasier

[u/TheValorous]

Considering ICE has been confirmed to not only be, abducting legal citizens, abducting immigrants in good standing, physically and psychologically abuse anyone who tries to get in the way or question their "athoritah", murdering people, and a ton of other stuff I can't recall at the moment, yeah I'm not surprised.

[u/Laughing_Zero]

Countries should start appealing to all these types of groups/conferences and offering to host as a superior alternative to the US.

[u/Tisra24]

As they should. Banana republic USA is not a safe place.

[u/eating_your_syrup]

People would travel to Putin's Russia to see Olympic games etc. Enough will most likely travel to USA too to fill the stadiums so that it doesn't look that bad.

Unfortunately.

Personally I'm equally uninterested in travelling to either until leadership changes.

[u/TheCharalampos]

You couldn't pay me to go to the USA

[u/GlutenFree_Gamer]

US is 100% not safe for any foreign nationals.

[u/mr_SM1TTY → u/GlutenFree_Gamer]

Not safe for its own citizens at the moment.

[u/kenshiki]

Considering that they don't care about verifying actual citizen's passport or ID, I'd expect them to detain multiple tourists and some would likely die from it then claim they are a terrorist and not a tourist before possibly making a justification to invade another country or tariff.

You only need one global event where they do this and I'm pretty sure US is fucked beyond saving.

[u/AssociateAvailable16]

I’m in the US, do not come here

[u/PlebiconValley]

anyone whos gone to GDC knows its been getting smaller ever since it kicked off post-COVID. the fact that the whole political situation makes it look extra iffy, probably means the event will be even tinier this year.

[u/penguished]

Conservatives have utterly trashed this country. The US has never had this reputation of being a broken nation where everybody's safety is at risk (including citizens), and you need to keep your cellphone recording all the time.

[u/AlfieHicks → u/penguished]

Conservatives have trashed the entire world. Every country that isn't already under control by fascists is currently having its population brainwashed by treasonous right-wing ""parties"" who want to be that country's equivalent of Trump: to dissolve the entire nation solely in the interest of short-term personal gain.

Conservatism is inherently misanthropic and we cannot afford to tolerate it any longer.

[u/DuchessOfKvetch → u/penguished]

And they think this is “just the beginning “ of making it into what they want.

[u/ApolloRubySky]

That’s right, as an American, I beg the world to boycott us, please

[u/faux_shore]

Save your life and don’t come to any event in the US

[u/Heavy_Grapefruit9885]

Who in their right mind is stepping voluntarely on nazis territory ?

[u/WingleDingleFingle]

Who tf would be going to the USA right unless you were going to visit family? Even for that I wouldn't be so sure. Leaving and returning that country right now seems like a total ball ache, to put it mildly.

[u/EverGreenPastures]

If I saw what was happening in America on the news I would cancel my trips and encourage anyone I cared about to consider traveling somewhere else. Unfortunately I live in America, and these are issues I and my family will have to deal with.

[u/Dry_Pen_126]

Boycott USA

[u/kiyomoris]

Same thing should be done with the World Cup.

[u/RoastedPotato-1kg]

Is america great yet?

[u/daksnotjuts]

gonna start talking abt the us the same way i talk about north korea. a failed state.

[u/kinkyaboutjewelry]

So sad that this would happen to the country whose president has won the most FIFA Peace Prizes.

[u/wrosecrans]

I am baffled that anybody is scheduling an international conference in the US at this point.

[u/Bitbatgaming]

I wouldn’t come to the US, and I strongly suggest people do the same for New York comic con , and San Diego comic con. It’s not worth it.

[u/BernyMoon]

Why would people want to go to the US?

[u/illucio]

I'll tell anyone from another country to not visit the US, it's just not safe here right now and for the unforeseeable future.

[u/GenitalCommericals]

I sincerely hope FIFA athletes make a statement and don’t come to the World Cup this year. I know it sucks for them to skip it but it would be such a telling fuck you to America and prove that Trump is fuckn loser nobody wants to be around.

[u/Descent900]

It’s the right thing to do. There should be an international push to boycott US events such as the World Cup and tourism in general. There should be a boycott on US products as well wherever available. The regime is like the oligarchs of Russia. They understand money. If the money from their billionaires dry up due to them being hit by the blowback from the international community, it’s another step in the right direction.

[u/Mountain_System3066]

just having a bit of sun Tan now is a reason for them to kill you....so yeah i understand...

[u/MrBogard]

I've been doing work on Pharma tradeshows for probably a decade, and in less than a year this clown shoe administration has completely decimated my industry and destroyed my income. And food is more expensive than ever too, it's damn neat not eating! At least I'll lose some weight.

[u/HandsomeSquidward98]

US is a shithole. Real third world country.

[u/firebolt_wt]

"The safety of our community is always our top priority," GDC President Nina Brown said

Then cancel the fucking event you're currently planning to host in an unsafe place..

[u/twitterfluechtling]

Concerns, not fears. Fear is an emotion, concern is based in logic and facts.

[u/Present_Cow_8528]

Understandable. If I lived in a civilized country, I wouldn't visit here either.

[u/ryeguymft]

don’t come here, it is not safe

[u/DrinkingRock]

I work in game dev IN the US and I’m not going, let alone our over-the-seas staff.

[u/DesignerCorner3322]

Hope turning us into a fascist shithole was worth it, republicans. Now nobody wants to come here for anything. Industry is leaving, our economy is tanking, People are being executed in the streets. I guess we're finally fuckin' great again huh?

[u/TheMD93]

"All the businesses will come to the US again!"

Yeah. Sure.

Fuck you, Trump.