Why are you making games?
Veteran game developer Chris Crawford has been asking that question for decades, both of himself and of others. In 2015, he told Gamasutra he’d spent over twenty years spearheading the development and advancement of interactive storytelling engines in games — systems that challenge players’ emotional and social skills.
It was a journey that got off to a very public start in 1992, when Crawford gave a remarkably moving speech to attendees of the Computer Game Developers Conference (which has since evolved into the Game Developers Conference), the game dev conference he himself founded five years earlier.
Crawford’s spirited performance came to be known as the “Dragon Speech”, because at the end he charged out of the room — and out of the commercial game industry, really — in pursuit of the “dragon” of truth, beauty, and art in games.
It was a seminal moment in the evolution of the game industry, one that was luckily captured on video (using ’90s tech) for future generations of devs to see. If you haven’t watched it recently (or ever), good news: you can now watch Chris Crawford’s ‘Dragon Speech’ for free on the official GDC YouTube channel!
About the GDC Vault
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas