Image credit: Performance Capture at Scale: Building a Pipeline for Battlefield 6 Cinematics presented by Pasha Sol, Motion Capture Supervisor, EA
If you’re coming to SIGGRAPH 2026 with games on your mind, you’re in for a packed week.
This year marks the debut of the SIGGRAPH Games Summit, a dedicated day of programming focused on how modern games are made. From player experience and audio to destruction systems, performance capture, engine development, and production pipelines, the Summit offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creative and technical decisions driving today’s industry.
But the Games Summit is only the beginning. Across the conference, you’ll find sessions on real-time rendering, AI, immersive technology, storytelling, and emerging workflows that are already influencing the future of game development. Whether you’re a developer, artist, student, or studio leader, here’s our guide to building a games-focused week at SIGGRAPH 2026.
Start With the Games Summit
Sunday, 19 July | 411 Theatre
The inaugural Games Summit is the place to start for game-focused attendees. Throughout the day, sessions explore player experience, audio design, production workflows, rendering technologies, and pipeline development.
Highlights include:
Beyond the Dot: New Ways to Reduce Motion Sickness in Gaming
Activision | 10–10:30 am
Player comfort continues to be one of the most important challenges in interactive experiences. This session explores new approaches to reducing motion sickness and improving player experience.
Game Audio Lasagna: Building Layers to Create New Sonic Worlds
Kole Hicks Music, Sword and Sound Audio | 10:45–11:15 am
Visuals often dominate conversations about game development, but audio plays an equally important role in shaping player experience. This session explores how layered sound design can create immersive worlds, offering insights into the creative and technical considerations behind modern game audio.
Battlefield 6: How We Brought the Franchise Vision to Life With Our Destruction System Debut
Electronic Arts | 11:30 am–12:00 pm
Large-scale destruction systems remain one of gaming’s most technically ambitious challenges. EA’s team shares how they approached bringing the “Battlefield” vision to life.
Computer Animation Festival — Animation Theater: Open Worlds
12:30–1:30 pm
The Games Summit schedule also includes a special Animation Theater screening focused on open worlds. For developers, artists, and storytellers alike, it offers an opportunity to explore how creators across industries are pushing visual storytelling, worldbuilding, and interactive experiences in new directions.
Performance Capture at Scale: Building a Pipeline for Battlefield 6 Cinematics
Electronic Arts | 1:45–2:15 pm
For anyone interested in cinematic storytelling, production pipelines, or virtual production, this session offers a behind-the-scenes look at how EA scaled performance capture and real-time visualization workflows for “Battlefield 6.”
Forging the Glacier at IO Interactive
IO Interactive, AMD | 2:30–3:30 pm
If you’re interested in the future of game development, don’t miss this candid conversation with IO Interactive’s Technical Director on building and evolving the Glacier engine, balancing innovation with production realities, and navigating the pressures facing modern studios.
The OpenUSD Roundtable: Using an Open Source File Format in Film and Game Dev Pipelines
RYStorm, Naughty Dog | 3:45–5:15 pm
As OpenUSD gains momentum across the game industry, this interactive roundtable offers a chance to hear how studios are adapting film-born workflows for real-time production, while sharing lessons learned and questions with peers tackling similar pipeline challenges.
For Rendering Engineers and Technical Artists
The Games Summit is only the beginning.
If your interests lean toward real-time graphics, rendering, and technical innovation, make these sessions priorities:
NVIDIA Sponsored Keynote
Next Era of Graphics: Neural Rendering, World Models, and Simulation
Monday, 20 July | 3:45–4:45 pm | Hall K
As AI-driven graphics workflows continue to evolve, this keynote showcases the latest advances in neural rendering, world models, and AI-driven simulation — highlighting technologies that are redefining how digital worlds are created, rendered, and explored across industries.
Advances in Real-Time Rendering in Games (Parts I & II)
Tuesday, 21 July
Part I | 9 am–12:15 pm | Petree D
Part II | 2-5:15 pm | Petree D
For many attendees, this is a cornerstone SIGGRAPH event. This is the course to attend if you are in the game development industry, or want to learn the latest and greatest techniques in the real-time rendering domain!
Course: Moving Mobile Graphics
Wednesday, 22 July | 2–5:15 pm | Petree D
Mobile platforms continue to push innovation in optimization and rendering efficiency. This course examines where the field is headed next.
Performance, Rendering, and Interaction for Competitive Esports (PRICE)
Thursday, 23 July | 2–5:15 pm | Room 406 AB
As esports continues to grow into a global cultural and economic force, PRICE explores the technologies that shape both player performance and spectator experience, from rendering and systems optimization to human factors, AI, and data-driven insights.
For Developers Exploring AI, Tools, and Future Pipelines
Several sessions this year focus on technologies that are already beginning to reshape production workflows. In addition to these highlights, check out all Production Sessions in the full schedule.
CTRL-G: Controllable Generative Graphics for Games
Monday, 20 July | 2–5:15 pm | Room 501 ABC
As generative AI continues to transform content creation, this Frontier Workshop explores one of the most important challenges facing game developers today: how to build controllable, player-responsive AI systems that support creative intent, production workflows, and interactive experiences.
Tripo AI Sponsored Keynote
The Teapot Test: First It Tested Showing. Now It Tests Making.
Wednesday, 22 July | 2:30–3:30 pm | Hall K
Curious about where AI-assisted content creation may be headed next? This keynote explores how advances in 3D generation and emerging “world models” could reshape the way creators build assets, environments, and interactive experiences at scale, offering an intriguing look at what future production pipelines might look like.
For Creative Leads, Designers, and Artists
Not every breakthrough happens in an engine or renderer. Some of the week’s most inspiring sessions focus on storytelling, visual development, and creative direction.
In Conversation with Brad Bird
Tuesday, 21 July | 10:45 am–12:15 pm | Hall K
This Talk offers a rare opportunity to hear from one of the industry’s most influential storytellers as he discusses the creative vision, worldbuilding, and artistic decisions behind his highly anticipated new feature, “RAY GUNN.”
Roll for Reality: Virtual Production Improvised D&D Show
District Cinema, Epic Games
Tuesday, 21 July | 3:15-5 pm | Concourse Hall
Part live Dungeons & Dragons show, part experimental storytelling platform, explore how tabletop roleplaying, motion capture, AI-assisted narrative tools, and real-time XR can come together to create dynamic, improvised experiences.
The Previs Battleground: Precision Planning vs Creative Freedom
Netflix Animation Studios, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Pictures Animation, Blizzard Entertainment, Weta FX, Industrial Light & Magic
Tuesday, 21 July | 3:45-5:15 pm | 411 Theatre
As animation, visual effects, and game development pipelines continue to converge, previsualization (previs) is taking on an increasingly important role in shaping creative decisions long before production begins. This panel brings together industry leaders to discuss how different approaches to previs influence iteration, budgets, technical workflows, and the balance between rapid exploration and production-ready planning.
Autodesk Vision Series: Animating Weapon Skins for VALORANT with Riot Games
Autodesk Vision Series
Wednesday, 22 July | 9:30–10:15 am | Petree C
Ever wonder what goes into making a weapon skin feel satisfying to equip, inspect, or show off after a clutch play? This session pulls back the curtain on the creative, technical, and gameplay considerations behind VALORANT’s weapon animations, offering practical insights for animators and developers alike.
Experience It Firsthand
The beauty of SIGGRAPH is getting to experience a range of industries and new ideas. In addition to the highlights in this list, the experiences below can be explored throughout the week.
Spatial Storytelling
Monday, 20 July-Thursday, 23 July | Concourse Hall
Spatial Storytelling is one of SIGGRAPH’s most interdisciplinary programs, bringing together creators, researchers, and audiences to explore how stories unfold across XR, AI, interactive environments, live performance, and experimental media. For game developers, it’s an opportunity to discover new approaches to worldbuilding, player engagement, and immersive storytelling that challenge traditional ideas of how narratives are experienced.
Real-Time Live!
Tuesday, 21 July | 6–7:45 pm | Hall K
A longtime SIGGRAPH favorite, Real-Time Live! showcases cutting-edge technologies in front of a live audience, giving attendees a chance to see breakthroughs in graphics, interactive experiences, and production workflows demonstrated in real time. For game developers, it’s one of the best opportunities of the week to see emerging ideas move beyond theory and into practice.
Computer Animation Festival
All Week | Various Locations
The Computer Animation Festival remains a SIGGRAPH tradition for good reason. Beyond celebrating outstanding visual storytelling, it offers game developers a chance to study worldbuilding, cinematography, animation, and creative problem-solving from some of the industry’s most accomplished artists and studios.
Included in the lineup this year are two screenings of the Electronic Theater on Monday and Wednesday; In Conversation sessions with Tyree Dillihay and Brad Bird; and four Animation Theater screenings: Open Worlds, Historically Speaking, The Other Side of Quiet, and Adventure Time.
Emerging Technologies
Monday, 20 July-Thursday, 23 July | Concourse Hall
One of SIGGRAPH’s most consistently popular destinations, Emerging Technologies lets you go hands-on with experimental interfaces, interactive systems, and research prototypes. If you’re curious about where games, XR, AI, and interactive experiences may be headed next, this is one of the best places at the conference to explore future-facing ideas in action.
Immersive Pavilion
All Week | Concourse Hall
For game developers working in spatial computing, XR, or interactive storytelling, the Immersive Pavilion offers an opportunity to experience new forms of engagement firsthand. Expect installations and experiences that challenge conventional ideas about presence, interaction, and digital worldbuilding.
Art Gallery
All Week | Concourse Foyer
Additional Programming in Various Locations
The Art Gallery offers a chance to see how artists are experimenting with many of the same technologies shaping interactive entertainment. It’s also a great reminder that some of the most innovative ideas in games often emerge when technical innovation meets creative exploration.
Final Tip: Leave Room for Discovery
The Games Summit provides an outstanding foundation for a games-focused week, but don’t be afraid to wander. Some of the most valuable SIGGRAPH experiences happen when your plans change.
If you’re currently registered for a Discover Pass and this lineup sparks your interest, consider upgrading to a Full Conference or Experience registration to unlock even more opportunities throughout the week.
The inaugural Games Summit is an exciting starting point. The rest of SIGGRAPH 2026 is where you’ll find the unexpected connections that make the conference special.
