The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit membership organisation for any individual who creates games regardless of their skill level. With over 150 chapters all over the world, the organisation holds conferences and game jams to connect game developers.
The Malaysian chapter of the IGDA has been diligently working on creating more avenues for local game developers to meet and showcase their games. This is done primarily through their Game Dev Hangout events that are held several times a year.
Open to both veteran and aspiring video game developers, as well as tabletop game makers, two Game Dev Hangouts have been held this year alone. The first was held in February at the Shah Alam campus of UOW Malaysia KDU.
More recently, the June edition of the Game Dev Hangout took place at video game commerce company Xsolla’s offices in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur. On top of the indie game showcases, there were also talks by industry professionals.
These included the technical talk "Development Pipeline with CI/CD" by Sean-Li Murmann, the Director of Game Technologies at Liquidx Studio, and "Game Developer Culture in Companies" with Jeremy Ooi, Hafiz Azman, Lum Siew Hong, which was moderated by Sophie Azlan.
"The event was an all-around success with a record-high turnout of 250+ people! We are grateful to have exceptional industry speakers and generous sponsors, and I am super proud to see the community growing and thriving," said IGDA Malaysian Chapter Associate, Alex Tan.
Attendees from all corners of the Malaysian game development community got to try out upcoming indie games, spoke to industry professionals, and made connections with their fellow developers.
"With such a massive turnout, it's really heartwarming to see how the industry would come together to communicate and get together. Although there is definitely room for improvement, I am honoured and empowered by the affirmation we've received throughout and after, and I hope we can continue to bring more to the table for our community," said IGDA Malaysian Chapter Associate, Jonathan Tang.
"IGDA's current goal is to unite the community and help Malaysia turn into the South East Asian hub of game development mingling and powerhouse. We aim to use the strengths of our diversity and culture to set a new trend in the global industrial market."
Keep up to date with the Malaysian chapter of the IGDA and their upcoming events on their official Facebook page.
