Esri’s Developer & Technology Summit is right around the corner and the Game Engine Maps SDK teams are excited to connect with you! We’re eager to learn about your work, explore new opportunities, and share updates on our latest developments. Join us in sunny Palm Springs, California, from Tuesday, March 10, to Friday, March 13, for technical sessions, demo theaters, and more.
To help you make the most of your time at the 2026 Developer & Technology Summit, we’ve put together a list of all the ways you can learn about the Game Engine Maps SDKs, engage with the development team, get your questions answered, and share your feedback. To make it easier to view all the sessions and demo theaters listed in this post and add them directly to your schedule, feel free to use the Game Engine Maps SDKs – Blog Post Sessions agenda.
Development Strategies
Right after Tuesday’s plenary, we’ll start with a session highlighting development strategies for building focused applications across mobile and desktop devices. If the ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Game Engines resonate as a path you’d like to explore, a variety of additional sessions later in the day and throughout the week will help you dig deeper and build your expertise.
Strategies for Mobile and Desktop App Development
Tuesday, Mar 10 | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT | Mesquite C
Attend this technical session if you are interested in developing specialized mobile and desktop GIS applications for your organization and need assistance in selecting the right technology. Speakers cover ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Native Apps for building custom 2D and 3D mapping applications; ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Game Engines, which leverage game engines for enhanced rendering capabilities; and ArcGIS Pro SDK for .NET, which provides the framework for extending the functionality of ArcGIS Pro.
Primary Sessions
We’re offering three key sessions focused on the ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity and ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unreal Engine (Game Engine Maps SDKs). If you’re just getting started, join the introductory session to get an overview of SDK capabilities and see how they’re being used to deliver immersive apps across a range of industries. The building apps session is all about demonstrating techniques for combining ArcGIS with the power of game engines to deliver lifelike experiences with real-world digital twins. Lastly, the what’s new and road ahead session covers the latest features introduced over the past year and offers a preview of upcoming enhancements.
ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Game Engines: An Introduction
Tuesday, Mar 10 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PDT | Mesquite C
Game Engine Maps SDKs enable you to build next-generation immersive 3D and extended reality (XR) apps with real-world spatial data. In this technical session, speakers introduce the SDKs for Unity and Unreal Engine, provide an overview of the capabilities, and demonstrate how to get started with the SDKs. You will also learn about how these game engine plug-ins are being used today to build applications for a range of industries from AEC to public safety.
ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Game Engines: Building Immersive Apps
Wednesday, Mar 11 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT | Mesquite GH
Interested in building a digital twin with ArcGIS and bringing it to life in a game engine? This technical session walks through the hands-on process of preparing, optimizing, and using ArcGIS data in a game engine to create an interactive, living geospatial digital twin. You will learn which types of GIS content are supported; how to prepare 3D data such as meshes, scenes, and ArcGIS CityEngine models; and ways to combine them with game engine assets and effects. Also explore techniques for enhancing immersive 3D and extended reality (XR) experiences with interactivity, animation, and physics while maintaining optimal performance.
ArcGIS Maps SDKs for Game Engines: What’s New and the Road Ahead
Thursday, Mar 12 | 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT | Catalina
Game Engine Maps SDKs enable you to use Unity and Unreal Engine to build immersive, cutting-edge 3D and extended reality (XR) experiences with real-world data. These SDKs empower organizations to create purpose-built 3D applications for urban planning, situational awareness, and training scenarios. Over the past year, numerous enhancements have been introduced, including support for 3D Tiles, vertical coordinate systems, elevation exaggeration, custom materials, and multiple maps. This technical session will showcase these advancements and offer a preview of what’s coming next.
Demo Theaters
Game engines provide APIs, tools, and systems that complement the Game Engine Maps SDKs, enabling developers to create more immersive and lifelike scenes. Unity and Unreal Engine offer similar, yet different capabilities and options for building cutting-edge desktop, mobile, and extended reality (XR) apps. This year we’re offering two demo theaters focused on capabilities, techniques, and workflows unique to a game engine – one demo theater for Unity and another for Unreal Engine.
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unity: Building Immersive Apps
Wednesday, Mar 11 | 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM PDT | Demo Theater 1: Oasis 1-2
ArcGIS Maps SDK for Unreal Engine: Building Immersive Apps
Wednesday, Mar 11 | 4:45 PM – 5:15 PM PDT | Demo Theater 1: Oasis 1-2
Practical applications
Game Engine Maps SDKs are used in production applications to tackle real-world challenges. One of the key strengths of game engines is their ability to deliver the responsiveness, high frame rates, and visual fidelity needed for immersive digital environments and informed decision-making. The following sessions highlight how the ArcGIS ecosystem, Game Engine Maps SDKs, and AI-assisted capabilities help deliver practical 3D and XR applications that enhance situational awareness, support planning workflows, and power training scenarios.
ArcGIS: Building Real-Time Situational Awareness Solutions
Tuesday, Mar 10 | 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PDT | Madera
Real-time situational awareness is a critical business need for organizations that require timely and accurate information to make informed decisions. ArcGIS includes configurable off-the-shelf technology and SDKs that allow you to build solutions to integrate data from multiple sources, analyze and visualize data to interpret the situation, and automate behaviors to detect events and send alerts. Join us to learn how to unlock the power of ArcGIS to create cutting-edge, real-time situational awareness solutions that transform data into actionable insights.
ArcGIS: Explore Data Interactively with Extended Reality
Wednesday, Mar 11 | 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PDT | Santa Rosa
Curious about Esri’s vision for extended reality (XR) in GIS? Join us to see how ArcGIS integrates with Unity and Unreal Engine to power immersive experiences across industries. Learn how to design compelling augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) solutions for mobile and XR headsets like Meta Quest, and explore end-user apps such as 360 VR and the new XR Viewer. Discover how these tools transform GIS data into interactive narratives that engage audiences, enhance decision-making, and open new possibilities for geospatial storytelling.
AI-Infused Development: Lessons Learned and Patterns from Esri Engineers
Thursday, Mar 12 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PDT | Primrose C
In this technical session, learn how Esri engineers are using AI to improve code quality, accelerate development and testing, simplify documentation, and explore new ideas. You will learn about common AI-assisted development patterns, trade-offs between free and paid tools, and security considerations. Speakers review prompt-engineering basics and illustrate how AI can enhance your workflow with ArcGIS SDKs and ArcGIS APIs. You will leave with an understanding of how you can use AI effectively in real projects, what works and does not, and how to start applying AI in your own development process.
Esri Tech Zone
Maps SDK team members will be available at the Tech Zone (previously known as the Esri Showcase) from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, with dedicated areas for each Game Engine Maps SDK. Visit us to ask questions, learn more about the Maps SDKs, and share what you’ve built or are working on. This is a great opportunity to connect with the developers behind the technology and share your experiences—we love hearing how you’re using the Game Engine Maps SDKs!
Strategy & Design Reviews
We’ll also have a group of Esri experts on-site to help you with strategic questions about development projects and solutions involving multiple parts of the ArcGIS system. This includes conversations on AI strategy and implementation, architecture evaluation, and code reviews. With the choice between the Game Engine Maps SDKs in the Tech Zone and scheduling a Strategy & Design Review, you might be wondering which option is right for you…
- Visit the Game Engine Maps SDKs area in the Esri Tech Zone if you need focused guidance on a specific Game Engine Maps SDK from the engineers who develop it.
- Book a Strategy & Design Review to discuss strategic approaches you might adopt. This is ideal for exploring broader platform concepts, choosing the right APIs and SDKs, reviewing your code, defining your security strategy, and planning your architecture.
See you in Palm Springs!
With technical sessions, demo theaters, code reviews, and the Esri Showcase, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn about the Game Engine Maps SDKs directly from the experts who build and work with them. We hope to see you there and look forward to connecting with you at the DevSummit 2026!
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