July 2025 Update
Hello Indies!
Sorry for this update being slightly late. I just got back from an amazing visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where I spent some quality time with the organizing team of Game Jam Plus, got to meet some of the local indie developer community, play their games, and tour their brand new community development, events, and eSports space. We hosted our first ever GJ+ site last October and I was honored to be invited to join the team in Brazil. Sadly I missed the finals in Brasilia due to some visa issues but was able to make it to Rio to spend time with the team and community there. We plan to host another site this year and if you and your team make it all the way to the finals you will get a chance to join us in Brazil in 2026 for the Global Finals!
Hard to believe we are in the second half of 2025 already but we have some excellent events lined up to keep you busy as always including the inaugural SLICE, SIX 2025, GeekFest West, the summer picnic, new events at the Community Convention Center in Auburn and so much more. With any luck there will be a major announcement happening in next month’s newsletter that will set the course for the next decade of Seattle Indies so stay tuned and send us some positive vibes. It is hard to deny that the industry has been in a pretty dark place for the past couple of years so hopefully we’ll have something positive to share to help keep our spirits up.
We send our support to the people impacted by the layoffs at Microsoft/Xbox last week and hope they land on their feet. They are welcome to join our community for support and services regardless if they consider themselves “indies” or not, Seattle Indies is for all game developers and we are here to help however we can. Speculation and rumors tend to run rampant when these types of events occur but be mindful that many of these people live in the area and may be long-time or brand new Seattle Indies members coming here for support and community the same way we all did.
Tim Cullings
Executive Director, Seattle Indies
With that being said we hope you’re enjoying the Hot Seattle Summer Days! Like every summer, we are getting close to some major events, so prepare for what’s in store…
(SIX 2025 artwork by Mike Monroe)
Seattle Indies Expo 2025 is coming soon! SIX is the largest annual celebration of indie games and game creators from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. 2024 was our biggest year yet with close to 4,000 attendees getting to play 32 games made by our community members and 2025 is expected to be even bigger with an expanded show floor and more rooms for meetings and programming. More news to come on the expansion of SIX 2025. In the meantime relive the excitement of SIX 2024 with this amazing highlight video of the event.
Seattle Indies will be appearing at Geek Fest West for the second year in a row with over 25 amazing games from our community members! The event is on July 18-20, 2025 at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, WA.
GeekFest West – Game Expo – 2025 is the ultimate Geek Festival, taking place over three days with three main areas. The first is the Angel of the Winds Arena itself, it will have board Game Rentals, Private Suites for Community Meetups, Guest Speakers, Panels, Lecture Series, Workshops, a DEDICATED Gameboard and Card Game Area, Card and Board Game Tournaments, a Retro Video Game console free Play, Vendors, Booths, Special After Hour Events, and the “GEEKAPALOOZA” Film Event. On Hewitt Ave outside the arena, there is the Street Festival with food and other vendors, Peaks Entertainment Wrestling, and more! Finally, up the street is the Everett Historic Theater where we will be showing retro sci-fi classics, with each day having different retro movies.
Book your tickets and find out more information https://www.geekfest.com/GeekFestWest#/about?lang=en
The hottest event of the summer is back in a big way! Mark August 3rd, 2025 on your calendars for the return of the Seattle Indies Summer Picnic at Madrona Park. We’ll be there in our usual spot at the North end of the park under the trees with games, food, and fun. Bring your family, friends and pets and celebrate the summer with us and your friends at Seattle Indies.
https://www.meetup.com/seattleindies/events/308991680/
Seattle Indies is proud to present SLICE (Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo). A new games industry event for Indie and AA game studios in the heart of Seattle. Happening at the historic McCaw Hall Theater at the Seattle Center. Get your tickets now!
Patreon Superhero supporters ($15/mo tier) should have received an email with a discount code for 50% off.
Check out the promo video where Seattle Indies VP Ty Taylor tells us what to expect from the inaugural event coming to Seattle on Wednesday August 27th, 2025 at an amazing venue to be announced shortly. https://youtu.be/gISMdjGQY5E
SLICE is a one-day conference to celebrate developers and empower them to build and grow thriving studios. Whether you’re leading a tiny but mighty indie team, guiding a growing studio, or looking to level up your own skills, SLICE brings developers together for a day packed with practical tools, insights, and connections.
With tracks spanning leadership, business, production, and creative development, SLICE is your backstage pass to the real talk, real tactics, and real people shaping the future of games. Join us in the heart of Seattle’s geeky, passionate game dev community—two days before PAX West kicks off—for an energizing dive into what it means to thrive as a game maker today.
We have an amazing team of industry veterans helping us to build an impactful event for all who attend.
Keep an eye on Discord and our social media channels for more information as it becomes available.
Keep an eye on Discord and our social media channels for more information as it becomes available.
There’s still time to submit to the IndieCade Festival happening in Fall of 2025! Submissions for this season include online Festival – IndieCade Anywhere and Everywhere, as well as consideration for any and all in-person events, as well as our ongoing streaming features and activities for the year.
IndieCade accepts and features a wide spectrum of games and experiences including tabletop, VR, AR, Escape Rooms, Zoom Games, mobile, traditional digital games, and more — regardless of platform, style, experience, or background, and we especially encourage work-in-progress as well as completed projects.
Serious Play is happening 13-15th August 2025 in Rochester, New York. Explore how the power of play, games and gamification are transforming education, training, and knowledge mobilization. Experience interactive sessions, compelling speakers, and cutting-edge research. This is where learning and innovation come to play. Learn more here!
The 10th annual Game Devs of Color Expo takes place online September 16-19, 2025! Submissions are also now open for speakers, panels, and game devs interviews. The organziers were kind enough to share a 10% discount code with our community: gdocSI.
Here is a link with the code pre-applied: https://ti.to/GDoCExpo/2025/discount/gdocSI
Take Your Studio to the Next Level with IndieGameBusiness® Sessions
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📆 September 17–18 | 💻 Online | 🎟️ $0–$60
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Get your tickets now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indiegamebusiness-sessions-how-to-fund-publish-run-an-indie-studio-tickets-1332967454539?discount=Sept25NL
Tokyo Game Show is coming back later this year, and game signups are unfortunately closed, but you can still attend. Read More Here!
If you want to get a list of all upcoming game event shows and get ready early, The Indie House has published this fantastic list of upcoming festival that’s exactly that. Well worth a bookmark!
This month’s feature is Patrick Ascolese, Founder of Dark Arts Software who recently had a successful Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming award winning title Trip the Light, an immersive VR partner dancing experience.
Check out the full interview we conducted with Patrick at the inaugural Founders Club event in May and mark your calendar for the next edition on Thursday July 31, 2025, 6-9pm at ThinkSpace Seattle. We will be featuring another panel of local founders and raffling off some SLICE tickets so you won’t want to miss it!
Patrick is a technical and creative entrepreneur with 20+ years of design, development and business experience.
He is a Founding Partner and initial shareholder in multiple startups. Participant in multiple successful buyouts and asset sales including Camouflaj (Iron Man VR) and Vulcan Inc’s Holodome.
He has extensive experience working for and with large firms including Microsoft, Facebook (Meta), and Vulcan Inc.
He is a technical and creative leader behind multiple critically acclaimed products including Holodome, Dome of The Dead, GrooVR, Camp Pokemon and Republique. Many repeatedly featured on their respective platforms including Oculus, Google Play and iTunes. Served 9 years at Microsoft Game Studios / Xbox as an original member of the Kinect / NUI team, designer/engineer on Hololens and advanced Xbox projects in Microsoft Research, and contributor to over a dozen game franchises, including Halo, Fable, Age of Empires, Flight Simulator and more.
Join us on Thursday July 31st for the next Founders Club from 6-9pm at ThinkSpace Seattle.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1420088987389?aff=oddtdtcreator
Here’s our Meetup Page with all future upcoming events.
The Eastside Meet & Drink is taking place on July 1, 6:30pm at Northwest Brewing Pint & Pie Public House. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outside world. Let’s meet for a drink, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
The Seattle Blender User Group is happening on July 5, 10am to 1pm at Academy of Interactive Entertainment – Seattle Center Armory – Suite 405 (305 Harrison St, Suite 405 · Seattle, WA). Seabug’s goals are to help beginners learn Blender, create Blender opportunities in the Pacific Northwest, showcase advanced Blender tools and projects, and celebrate open source graphics in all forms.
Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is on July 6, this month, but at 3pm at at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!
The Pierce Country Social is taking place on July 7, 5:30pm-8:00pm at 7 Seas Brewery and Taproom on 2101 Jefferson Ave · Tacoma, WA. Kids are welcome until 8pm as long as they are within arm’s length. Main tap room is first come, first served!
Feedback Circle is back on July 8, 7pm right on our discord. It’s time to stop coding, animating, making art or audio or adding that amazing new feature you thought of while you were falling asleep last night and come to Feedback Circle to get some real responses to what you have been working on from game creators in our community like yourself.
An In-Person Writer’s Group will take place at Hugo House on July 9, 6:30 PM. For anyone interested or working on projects in game writing, narrative design, voice acting or more– swing by Seattle Indies’ In-Person Writer’s Group! Bring your narrative games, scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or any other story materials for sharing and feedback.
Northside Social is happening at Watershed Pub & Kitchen on July 10 from 6-pm. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a coffee/tea, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
Seattle Indies Social takes place at Stoup Brewing (formerly Optimism) on July 15, 7pm. Join us for some well-deserved mingling, drinks, and socialization! Make some new friends, catch up with old ones, and find out what the community’s up to.
The Game Club is happening on July 16th at 7pm right on our Discord, focusing on Venba. What a book club is to a discussion of literature, this event is to a discussion of game design. Every month, we agree to play a game, then meet to discuss and analyze its design and presentation.
The SnoCo Social is happening on July 18, 6pm at Zulu’s Board Game Cafe located on 5116 196th St SW Suite 203, Lynnwood, WA 98036 · Lynnwood, WA. Hang out at a local game store with fellow Snohomish Co and adjacent folks over food, drinks, engaging conversations, and maybe some board gaming! If you want to demo/playtest your game, let me know and I’ll make sure there table space + open outlet for your setup.
Southside Social is taking place on July 28, 5:30pm at Logan Brewing Company, 510 SW 151st Street, · Burien, WA. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a coffee/tea, a bite to eat, and some good conversation! This meetup will alternate between Kent and Burien for the next few months at least so we can find out which location works best for people.
Kitsap Social (Bremerton) Join us every last Tuesday of the month (July 29) at Ashely’s Pub at 6:30pm to meet for a drink and some great conversation! Feel free to bring what you’re working on. We may have a room reserved for the public event. Dogs allowed. Outside food allowed.
The Writer’s Room is happening on July 29, 6:30pm right on our discord. Welcome all game writers, narrative designers, voice actors and more to the Seattle Indies Writer’s Room! Bring your scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or whatever you’re working on to share and get feedback on your storytelling.
Indie Co-working Support Group in-person will take place every Saturday, from 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM PST, at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Seattle Center wifi will be available for use. Please bring everything you need to be productive. We will be meeting every Saturday of the month at AIE going forward. We have also added a Co-working voice channel in Discord for people to use any time they want a quiet space to work alongside their peers.
Seabug Study Hall is a new series of events taking place every week on Thursday, 9pm to 11pm, right on our Discord! Join others from the Seattle Blender User Group for a lo-fi chill out online study hall. Bring a project, just chat, and have a good time with some unstructured project sharing and Q&A.
The Diversity Collective+ social will be happening on July 20th from Noon-3pm at Phoenix Comics and Games in Cap Hill. Keep an eye on Meetup and Discord for the event links to sign up to be reminded.
Founders Club Join us on Thursday July 31st during Seattle Tech Week for the next installment of the Seattle Indies Founders Club at ThinkSpace Seattle’s beautiful location on Lake Union. We will be raffling off tickets to SLICE and will have a special discount code for Founders Club members.
Our regular Events that are NOT HAPPENING this month:
Show and Tell, is OFF this month, but usually happens at Niantic offices at One Bellevue Center – Chinook Room 411 108th Ave NE · Bellevue, WA. Bring your laptop and show off what you’re working on at the Seattle Indies Demo Night. Use this event to get feedback on your game and to network with other game devs. Pizza will be provided. Please bring everything you will need to demo and record feedback for your game.
IanWeber is a solo dev who makes retro games and just released AirBattle Arcade Shooter on Itch.io. Check out the Trailer on YouTube!
Jakub announced a new game – Table Tactics. – A turn-base strategy game where all units are tabletop figurines you need to knock over. No health points, no stats, just physics at its best (and worst!). Check it out Here!
Salaar also t announced their first indie game since leaving AAA to go full-time indie! Dual-wield devastating weapon combos in this momentum-fueled Roguelite FPS. Chain movement, stack every upgrade, and bend time to overpower the odds in style! Wishlist it here!
Natalie Spitzel’s team launched their final trailer and release date for Sword of the Sea. Check it Out!
Teddy Delaney launched their game free on Steam! Take a peek!
Oldmanofthefire launched Sky Samurai on IOs, plays like pool, but you’re a robot samurai escaping dystopia. Check it out!
Ben Shutt (he/him) launched demo for their first game. Go play it here!
Randy H. shared an interview with him saying random things about game design, watch it here!
Mike Monroe released the soundtrack to DEAD LETTER DEPT. Take a look!
Harassment Policy, AAPI, Black Lives Matter, and Resources
Seattle Indies stands with the AAPI community. We are here for our members who have been affected by the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes both locally and nationally. For further resources to educate yourself on the issue and how to take action, here is a useful link: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared. 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 August 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 august@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 follow us on all of our social media platforms.
If you want to join our mailing list to get this update sent to your inbox monthly you can Subscribe on LinkedIn.