On October 10, LucasArts’ David Nottingham tweeted:
“If you dream of leaving that big company and making your games and are not by this time next year, come to IndieCade and it will change you.”
The fourth annual IndieCade festival continued to distinguish itself in its celebration of the spirit of independent game making and the people who drive it forward. While the festival’s presence seemed almost grandiose in comparison to previous years, in actuality it was the most intimate festival yet. Festivalgoers joined game developers in talks, social gatherings, and plenty of games of ninja. By the end of the three-day celebration the lines between attendees, finalists, and panelists had become all but indistinguishable.
While the panelists at this year’s IndieCade did not always refrain from taking jabs at the big name publishers, the festival’s overall tone was far from pessimistic. Independent game making was mostly portrayed as an alluring alternative to AAA development, but not as the only feasible option. In most cases, the panelists encouraged their audiences to follow the path that would allow them create what they truly wanted to create. The festival ended with Frank Lantz’ keynote, “Why I Am an Optimist.” He ensured that none of the audience members left the festival with a hint of concern about the longevity of the video game industry.
The festival was made successful in part by the focused effort on media and social outreach. The most obvious results of this effort were present at the awards ceremony, which was hosted by Levar Burton and broadcasted on G4tv.com. The ceremony was abuzz with well-known figures in the video game and technology world, and even took an opportunity to honor Tim Schafer, a name that extends far beyond the independent game scene. Despite sharing the same venue, this year’s awards ceremony was a far cry from last year’s relatively low-key display. All of this was intentional. Four years in, it was time for IndieCade’s name to be recognized by mainstream audiences. IndieCade could no longer afford to just be indie.
Here I am
tweetingworking at the awards ceremony.
IndieCade’s focus on media outreach stretches back many months before the awards ceremony took place, however. I was hired in the summer around the time the IndieCade staff was in the planning stages of their public outreach onslaught. Aside from a few errands here and there, my entire job was to raise awareness of IndieCade. Facebook certainly helped raise awareness, but despite its smaller user base Twitter was often more successful. With Twitter it was easy to go viral. After one little tweet about Reading Rainbow, suddenly hundreds of Levar Burton fans became interested in independent video games. Beyond the social networks we spread the word at our sponsor venues, such as Westfield Mall, and at other public spaces in Southern California.
The hope for this year’s festival was to establish IndieCade as a recognizable name and as an overall force in the game industry. Judging by the reactions to the festival, it appears that we succeeded. The IndieCade finalists are some of the most brilliant and creative minds in the game industry, and they deserve recognition. Each year IndieCade has improved and expanded, and 2011 will undoubtedly be no different. I cannot wait to see what’s next.