It’s Wednesday in San Francisco. The GDC Expo hasn’t even started yet and still there’s already so much to talk about we don’t know where to begin.

Let’s get the big one out of the way first. During their keynote on Monday it was announced that proud FLEGA member texture streaming wizards Graphine has been acquired by none other than Unity. CEO Aljosha Demeulemeester: “The video game industry keeps growing […] and Unity has been extremely successful in accomplishing its mission of democratising game development and we’re very excited to become part of its journey.”

He also confirmed that research and development will remain in Ghent, effectively resulting in the first Unity office in Belgium. This is huge news and is bound to have a very positive impact on our local industry. Congratulations to Aljosha and everyone involved!

Good news is supported with good vibes and there’s plenty of those to be found at GDC as well. On Sunday, we kicked off GDC in style with Courage XL at the fancy Monarch club. Belgian game developers conquered the basement floor of the place to get some valuable feedback on their games and network with guests and developers from all over the world, all while having a good time. If you didn’t manage to get in, here are some cool shots (courtesy of Natascha Rommens) and a nice aftervideo to get a feel for the mood.

Tuesday evening we threw a smashing party at the BelgianGamesCafe. The atmosphere was great and the place was loaded with cool people from Belgium and other places. Drinks flowed, finger food was had and the DJ of the day kept people partying ways into the night.

Last but not least: Just this morning, founding father of Flemish games Swen Vincke took to the stage to talk about the making of Divinity: Original Sin 2. For a jam packed room, he highlighted the major hurdles the team had to jump on their quest to create the best role-playing epic possible and the lessons learned from that.

The team took tremendous risk by changing dialogue and script until the very last second. Some of the decisions didn’t work out (“I had one blowing up just this morning, actually”, he added), but it all made for a better experience and the critical acclaim that ultimately came with it.

Meanwhile, the expo has opened its door and that means you should be on your way to the South Hall, booth S157, where you can find the first Flemish booth on GDC ever.

As always: we wouldn’t be here without the joint effort of the following organisations with a heart for games. Thank you Flanders Investment & Trade, Flanders DC, VAF/Gamefonds, Digital Wallonia and Cronos Interactive.