Save Storytelling from the Bland

All MAC 2026 sessions are free to watch on demand right now.

Catch up with every session from our world-class lineup of speakers - including Ken Levine (BioShock), Yoko Taro (NieR), and franchise architect Jeff Gomez. MAC 2026 moves beyond passive content delivery to explore the cutting edge of interactive storytelling, game systems, and audience participation.

7 incredible sessions:

Ken Levine (Ghost Story Games) – creator of BioShock and BioShock Infinite, in a live conversation on authored story, player agency and systemic design, with a look ahead to Judas.

Jeff Gomez (Starlight Runner) – Franchise Architect behind Avatar, Halo and Pirates of the Caribbean, delivering the keynote on why the hero’s journey isn’t enough anymore.

Yoko Taro (NieR) – subject of a special epistolary film built from a month of direct correspondence. Slippery, funny and unexpectedly direct.

Pinny Grylls & Sam Crane (Grand Theft Hamlet) – the story of staging Shakespeare inside GTA Online, for a live, unpredictable and frequently hostile multiplayer audience.

Thomas Keane (Meaning Machine) – game designer using speech and language as core mechanics, on why the human hand matters more than ever when AI is in the pipeline.

Rachel Hamilton (Bath Spa University) – writer and academic on the emotional gap between human empathy and machine code, and why we grieve software updates.

Gareth Langley (Piing) – CEO of the studio turning stadiums into real-time multiplayer games, on what happens when tens of thousands of people become the controller.

MORE INFO ABOUT SPEAKERS

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“Last year’s and this year’s speakers were interesting – nice mix between reflection & practice. To touch upon interactive storytelling in different media is excellent!”

Ronald Geerts (audience member)

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“Honored to be joining this prestigious conference as keynote speaker. I will be sharing my latest thoughts and practical applications for storyworld systems, particularly franchise architecture and canonicity in AI environments.”