6 Mar 16

Austin Game Devs 2016 Plan & 2015 Year in Review

Austin Game Devs

✤ 100% volunteer organization

✤ Thousands of game developers and over 100 studios throughout the greater Austin area

✤ Community supported / community run / community focus

✤ Conduct events on interesting topics at cool locations

✤ Led by a steering committee of local game devs across multiple disciplines and organizations

Who Are We?

Frank CoppersmithChair CEO, Possum Interactive

Randall RobbinsVice ChairProject Manager

Jennifer BullardPast Chair Founder, Captivate

Gordon WaltonExecutive ProducerArtCraft Entertainment

Finn StaberProgrammer/Designer/World BuilderPortalarium

Jason MaltzenFounderHidden Achievement

Tess SniderOwnerPixelsea Entertainment

Kathy AmellProgram ManagerMidnight Studios

Courtney CarlsonSocial Media / PRWomen in Games

Rhys RomeroDesigner / ProducerPortalarium

Edgar GresoresAudio DirectorCompass Learning

William VickerySoftware EngineerTeam Chaos

Austin Gaming Ecosystem✤ Game Studio (large, small and indie)

✤ Publishers (Aspyr, Gambitious, EA)

✤ Educators (UT, ACC, St. Eds, Art Institute)

✤ Community /Meetup Groups (Mobile & Indie Game Dev, Game Makers Unite, Unity Austin, AAUGA) / Juegos Rancheros / Game Calendar

✤ Government (City of Austin)

✤ Professional Organizations: Chamber & Austin Technology Council

✤ Austin Game Conference (new!)

Mission for 2016

✤ Provide programs and resources that help great game developers make great game companies, by...

✤ Showcasing new voices, at...

✤ High impact events suitable for beginners and pros.

Tactics

✤ Host high impact events -> solve a community need

✤ Conduct surveys and report on the state of the local industry

✤ 1:1 with local devs - research and great press for them and Austin

✤ Partner with community groups, Austin and professional orgs

✤ Improve social media ops (website, Facebook, Twitter)

✤ Media outreach - increased visibility and credibility

How to Pay Your Mortgage January 2016

✤ We kicked off 2016 with a panel on “How to Pay Your Mortgage in the Video Game Industry.”

✤ Industry veterans, from major studios to solo indies, gave our nearly 100 attendees at Tech Ranch insight into their challenges and eventual success.

Chris Primozich, Neal Nellans, Adrian Glover, John Talley and Frank Coppersmith kick off the first panel

Upcoming Events for 2016✤ 17 - 19 Mar - SXSW Booth (indie game

demos)

✤ 14 Apr - “Video Game Producers Chair: Panel with Austin Game Producers”

✤ May - Strategic Planning with Z-Factor Group (for indie studios and teams)

✤ June - Red Fox Clan: “Beyond development, the critical work that independent developers neglect.”

✤ More... community management, finance and accounting, marketing, sound design...

SXSW - “Gamers Voice”Awarded to the best game created by indie developers, selected by SXSW Expo attendees

✤ Sky Arena is a modern re-imagination of the Starfox multiplayer mode. You pilot a jet fighter to have fast paced dogfights against three of your friends. Play either locally, in splitscreen mode, or create an online game and let your friends join from all over the world.

✤ Kingdom is a 2D sidescrolling strategy/resource management hybrid with a minimalist feel wrapped in a beautiful, modern pixel art aesthetic.

2015 Events

✤ Volunteer Muster

✤ Career Catalyst

✤ Networking Workshop

✤ Crowdfunding Panel

✤ SXSW

✤ Adam & Gordon

✤ Bowling & Billiards

✤ Grand Art Panel

AGD was busy!✤ Game Developers Conference

✤ Microtalks: Agency

✤ ATC CEO Summit

✤ VR/AR Gaming Peripherals

✤ AR/VR for Smart Glasses / Mobile

✤ Unite! Panel

✤ Building Your Indie Game Studio

✤ Intel Buzz Workshop

✤ AR/VR Positional Tracking

Where to find us

✤ WEB: austingamedevs.org

✤ TWITTER: @AustinIGDA

✤ MEETUP: www.meetup.com/IGDA-Austin/

✤ FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/IgdaAustin/

✤ EMAIL: austinigda@gmail.com