Thousands of game developers and enthusiasts are expected to converge at the Moscone Center in San Francisco over the coming week for the 27^th staging of the Game Developers Conference or GDC.

Pundits expect this year's show to be bigger than ever and to be dominated by new developments from Sony, Microsoft and Valve. Much anticipated will be the debut of new gaming consoles: Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One. The threat posed by Valve's "console killing" Steam Machines to both these consoles is also raising expectations.

Eagerly awaited is Valve's virtual reality headset, which got great reviews at the Steam Dev Days conference this January, and which is expected to be unwrapped at GDC. Sony, however, is also expected to unveil its own VR headset at GDC.

GDC is the primary forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, business decision-makers and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas and shape the future of the industry. It is produced by the UBM Tech Game Network.

This conference will feature over 400 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions on a comprehensive selection of game development topics taught by leading industry experts. The GDC expo showcases all of the most relevant game development tools, platforms and services helping to drive the industry forward. The conference also features the 16th annual Independent Games Festival, the longest-running and largest festival relating to independent games worldwide.

GDC's Main Conference with the third annual Flash Forward session will start 9:30am on March 19 at the West Hall of the Moscone Convention Center. Flash Forward is open to all All Access and Main Conference passholders. GDC ends March 21.