2026-11-03 –, Ballsaal
Every generation of game developers has seen its tools change, from custom in-house engines to open-source editors like Godot. AI is the newest change, and it is already part of many professional workflows. It also raises real questions about credit, quality and creative ownership, and those questions deserve careful answers rather than quick verdicts. This keynote reflects on where making games is heading, what AI can and can't do for developers, and why the Godot community is well placed to help shape it. Tools will keep changing; the craft remains. Our shared task is to make sure the tools keep serving the craft.
Johannes Ebner is a Co-Founder of GodotFest. He has spent 18 years building multiplayer games and online services, for studios ranging from indie to AAA.
In his day job he is a Senior Production Partner Manager at XBOX, helping publishers and studios bring their games to the XBOX ecosystem. Before that he was a Gaming Solution Architect at Microsoft, where he helped deploy backend infrastructure for more than 30 high-profile games. One of those was Valheim, which he helped go cross-platform with PlayFab and Azure.
He also runs Structed.me, a consultancy that helps studios plan, build and launch games with online components, covering both the technical and commercial sides. He built godot-playfab, a Godot plugin for PlayFab that games such as Dome Keeper use. He started his games career at Travian Games, first as a game programmer and later as technical lead on online multiplayer titles.
In 2023 Johannes hosted GodotCon Munich, which drew 300 attendees plus an online stream. He went on to found GodotFest with Ben Vehling, Kerstin Pfaffinger, Raffaele Picca and Senad Hrnjadovic.