At the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming, Perforce Software, the DevOps company powering global development teams, announced a slate of AI-driven tools, cloud expansion, and community initiatives designed to empower creators and streamline game production pipelines. The updates underscore Perforce’s focus: not what AI can do alone, but how human creators can leverage real-time workflows to push the limits of game development.
Live Podcast and Pipeline Insights
Perforce will kick off the festival with a live recording of its In Development podcast featuring Tom Guillermin, co-founder of Sandfall Interactive, the studio behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game, which won nine awards including Game of the Year 2025, was developed by a team of fewer than 50 people. Guillermin will discuss the production strategies and pipeline decisions that allowed the studio to ship a record-breaking debut title while maintaining creative craft and technical precision.
“The conversation around AI in creative industries tends to focus on what the tech can produce,” said Jase Lindgren, Senior User Advocate at Perforce. “We’re more interested in what creators can make with real-time workflows and tools that keep them in control.”
Celebrating Craft: The Art of Version Control Showcase
Perforce is inviting digital artists, level designers, and 3D modelers to submit work for the Art of Version Control Showcase, an open 3D art competition. Categories include:
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Best Character or Creature
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Best Prop or Accessory
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Best Vehicle
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Best Process (from concept to final pixel)
Submissions open March 9 and close April 30, 2026. Winners will receive cash prizes, GDC exposure, and global distribution on Perforce channels. Judges include talent from Naughty Dog, Mojang Studios, and Visual Concepts.
AI and Workflow Tools
Perforce is expanding AI capabilities across its platform:
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P4 MCP: Users can query assets, code, and dependencies using natural language via AI tools like Claude Code or JetBrains Rider, maintaining enterprise-grade permissions. Available now as a Community Supported release.
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P4 One Experiments Plugin for Unreal Engine: Allows artists to create and test variations of models or scenes within an active project without duplicating large files. Beta will be previewed at GDC.
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Real-Time Workflow Survey: In partnership with AWS, Perforce’s survey gathers insights on challenges across game dev, VFX, animation, and 3D visualization, informing the state of game technology report later in 2026.
Cloud Expansion for Larger Teams
Perforce also announced that P4 Cloud now supports teams of up to 100 users, offering fully managed single-tenant instances in the U.S., U.K., and EU. This update allows larger creative teams to scale quickly with secure, hosted deployments.
“P4 Cloud isn’t just for small teams anymore,” said Brent Schiestl, Senior Director of Product Management. “We’re doubling the capacity to accommodate the industries that need flexible, managed version control the most.”
From live podcasts and art competitions to AI-driven asset management and cloud scalability, Perforce’s GDC initiatives aim to equip creators with tools, insights, and community recognition to accelerate production while keeping human craft at the center of next-generation game development.
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