August 2020 Update
Hello Indies!
Hope you are all hanging in there. July has been a really long year! But only 5 more years and we will be done with 2020 😓 Meanwhile, let’s talk about games!
Recap
Hype Jam is just finished on Sunday with an excellent final presentation of all of the hyped up creations.A game jam for game trailers: convert a crazy game idea into an awesome game trailer! Find out all about it and current progress right here. It was so much fun the hype is already building for 2021!
GDC Summer is also on, taking place Aug. 4-6. If you have registered, now would be a good idea to double-check the panel list and send out some invites. Here’s all the info on the official website.
We also wrapped up judging for our annual Seattle Indies Expo 🥳 This year we had 38 amazing games of all shapes and sizes, and we totalled over 300 reviews (which will be sent as feedback to the developers). We’ll be announcing the official line-up very soon, stay tuned!
Upcoming Events
IGDA Seattle & Diversity Collective+ are launching a new online talk series called BECOMING, where games industry professionals reflect on their career path. The initial event will be taking place on Tuesday 8/11 on https://twitch.tv/igdaseattle The first panel focuses on executive leadership in the games industry and features Serena Robar – Chief Executive Officer at AuthorDigital and Adept Games, Torrie Dorrell – COO @ Hairbrained Schemes, Juan Gril – Producer/ Designer @ Gametapas & Leah Hoyer – Project Lead, Incubation Bungie & CEO, Creative Director at Level Headed Games.
On Sunday July 26th we hosted our first Indie Side Skills Club meetup that featured six sessions on topics ranging from cooking to free diving, obscure movies relevant to game designers, meditation, needle felting and starting your first aquarium. It was a fun afternoon learning about new ideas for hobbies and we are planning to host more in the future.
Game Club is happening on Wednesday August 18th, this month we are playing the critically acclaimed A Plague Tale: Innocence. Join us on the Seattle Indies Discord with your notes and feedback about the game.
Join us on Tuesday August 18th for the monthly Seattle Indies Social – Online edition. These are fun, small gatherings of your friends from Seattle Indies and a few former Seattleites who have been attending the online meetups and catching up on what they’ve been missing since they left us.
Indie Support Group keeps rolling along, join us this and every Saturday from 1-7:30 pm on the Seattle Indies Discord to work on your game, get feedback from the other attendees and meet new friends to collaborate on a project with.
PlayCrafting NYC is just around the corner, starting on August 10th! It’s a digital conference featuring the latest from indie developers and larger studios from both the New York area and all around the world. Apply to exhibit, reserve your ticket, and find out all about it right here.
Oculus Launch Pad is an annual developer program focused on providing education, access, and opportunities to VR creators from underrepresented communities. The 2020 program is going 100% digital and is now accepting applications! Check out the latest blog post to learn more about the program and how to apply.
And if you’re looking for more jam opportunities, Jamming the Curve is coming up soon as well! A two-week, distributed “slow jam” that invites diverse creators from around the world to develop games that can help translate data into stories through the use of real scientific models. The jam itself will be an online slow jam running from 9/15-10/1 and you can follow it at IndieCade Twitch Channel.
Harassment Policy, Black Lives Matter, and Resources
Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared this past week and before. We strongly condemn the actions by people in power preying on the dreams of vulnerable people trying to make their way in the industry and strive to build an inclusive community that welcomes all minorities to provide a safe environment and a better vision for the game industry.
While our code of conduct states a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind we are especially sensitive to the daily challenges faced by womxn due to the ingrained sexism that has existed in the structure of the games industry for far too long. We are actively working to build a better community of game developers and we all need to do better.
Additionally Board Member Sarah Belhumeur has offered to be a personal resource for anyone who needs help, someone to talk to or some guidance on next steps if you have experienced harassment in the industry either at our events or elsewhere. She can be reached at sarah@seattleindies.org.
Our friends at Take This Org have compiled valuable resources for anyone in immediate need of professional help for their situation.
Lastly, Seattle Indies and Diversity Collective+ support Black Lives Matter. Here are some resources compiled by Diversity Collective+ for how you can offer support, whether this is financial, contributing to petitions, preparing for protests, or getting informed. If you have additional resources, comment below and we will add them.
As always, keep an eye on our Discord for any last-minute news and discussion, and let us know about any projects you’re working on that you’d like shared on our Steam or Itch collections or tweeted about from @SeattleIndies!
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