Featuring a Post-Film Q&A moderated by Tim Kitzrow (the voice of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz) with Director Joshua Tsui, Eugene Jarvis, and George Petro

Eugene Jarvis, the creator of 80s classic video games such as Defender and Robotron, returns to the industry in the 90s. In the process, he assembles a team that pioneers the concept of bringing live action into video games, kickstarting a new era in the arcades.

The technology mushrooms into massive hits such as Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam and soon the team begins to conquer the world. What began as a small tight-knit group begins to deal with success and eventually the looming threat of consumer technology.

Bit Bash has teamed up with the Chicago Humanities Festival and The Verge to present a day of panels from fantastic guests, talking about the ceaseless intersection of technology and mental health.

CALLING ALL CHICAGO GAME DEVELOPERS--STUDENT AND PROFESSIONALS FROM ALL DISCIPLINES!

DePaul Fundamental Research in Academic Gaming is proud to present Industry Night! A casual networking event for Chicago Game Devs! Whether you are a student or someone who drabbles a bit in game dev or a professional game developer all are welcome at Industry Night!

Industry Night takes place at 11th floor 1 E. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60604

Food will be provided!

Proof of vaccination is mandatory! No proof of vaccination! No entry! While masks are not mandatory, it is highly recommended to wear one!

Disclaimer: Industry Night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked.

Source

Extra Life Chicago Gaming Convention (ELCGC) is a brand new event designed to bring the gaming community in Chicago together. It is the first charity gaming convention in the area. ELCGC is a place to play games, support local vendors & performers, meet new friends, cosplay as your favorite character, and hear from expert panelists. The full programming schedule is available now!

IGDA Chicago will be moderating a panel of speakers discussing the Chicago Game Industry Scene. Curious about how to start a career in game development or just want to learn about some great communities where you can connect with other gamers? This panel talk and Q&A will help you join the game!

Source

Extra Life Chicago Gaming Convention (ELCGC) is a brand new event designed to bring the gaming community in Chicago together. It is the first charity gaming convention in the area. ELCGC is a place to play games, support local vendors & performers, meet new friends, cosplay as your favorite character, and hear from expert panelists. The full programming schedule is available now!

Hey, there indie folks! It's been a while since one of these has happened so we thought it was high time to bring it back.

To shake it up even more we're moving to discord! To start off slow were only going to do the open mic portion. We sadly won't be able to have open play but we'll have rooms where folks can chat one on one if they want!

Agenda:
- Indie Open Mic. Sign up at the start of the meeting, and you'll get 5 minutes to demo your latest masterpiece-in-progress!
-Open Chat: Anyone can hop into a different room with someone else to talk about people's projects

As always, open mic sign-up will be during the first 10 minutes of the meeting--if you want in, make sure to show up on time with a playable, ready to go version of your game.

The end of summer is upon us and that means it's time for IGDA Chicago's annual picnic! This year, the picnic will be held outside (rain or shine) at Montrose Beach, off of N Simonds Dr, on Sept 12th from 12 - 3 PM CST.

Take a break from the screen, enjoy the late-summer weather, and most importantly, hang out with folks from your local game development community.

Food & Activities.

For safety, please bring your own brown bag lunch and drinks. Individual water bottles will be provided.

We'll be playing board games and enjoying outdoor activities together. If you have a tabletop or card game you'd like to bring, please do!

Please bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket if possible.

Location Info

Our group will be set up in the grass to the south of the stone bridge near N. Simonds Dr:

COVID-19 Info

As this event is outside, masks are encouraged but not required. Hand sanitizer will be available onsite. If you feel unwell or have been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 within 2 weeks of this event, please refrain from attending this event for the safety of other participants.

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

I've missed you all so much.

Let's get together and do the thing. You know the drill.

Remedy has agreed to host us and I would love to get a better count of how many we'll have. If we are going to overwhelm their bar we might need to move locations, but I won't know until we get people signing up.

Remedy is at the Western Blue Line or Milwaukee and Western just south east a little on Milwaukee.

See you there!

Game Dev Industry Night is a social gathering for game developers. If you're a game developer and you're interested in a social gathering of game developers (designers, programmers, artists, audio peeps, QA, producers, indie, professional, AAA, A, etc), please come out and hang with us!

Disclaimer:
Industry night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked. Don't be an asshole.

From global VR eSports Leagues to the AR updating of classic tabletop games to the individual challenge of Beat Saber, technology is changing how we play both sports and games. Many believe this is the segment that will encourage mass adoption of VR/AR. Games like Pokemon Go and Half-Life: Alyx have shown signs of large market possibilities. We will explore this and more with our experts who are at the forefront of these gaming horizons.

SPEAKERS

SCHEDULE

6:00-6:15pm – Networking & Preparation

6:15-6:30pm – Introductions & Welcome

6:30-7:30pm – Panel Discussion and Q&A

7:30-8:00pm – Networking

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

Hey, there indie folks! It's been a while since one of these has happened so we thought it was high time to bring it back.

To shake it up even more we're moving to discord! To start off slow were only going to do the open mic portion. We sadly won't be able to have open play but we'll have rooms where folks can chat one on one if they want!

Agenda:
- Indie Open Mic. Sign up at the start of the meeting, and you'll get 5 minutes to demo your latest masterpiece-in-progress!
-Open Chat: Anyone can hop into a different room with someone else to talk about people's projects

As always, open mic sign-up will be during the first 10 minutes of the meeting--if you want in, make sure to show up on time with a playable, ready to go version of your game.

Join IGDA Chicago for our AMA Speaker Series that allows you to ask those burning questions you have always wanted to ask to industry veterans!

This event will be held Thursday, November 12th with very special guest Rachel Nador!

Rachel Nador has an Art degree from the University of Iowa and started her career creating graphics for vehicle simulation, but soon became a video game environment artist. For eight years she worked for companies like Atari/Midway Games West, and Electronic Arts. She is currently a freelance 3D artist and has done extensive work creating medical and scientific graphics for AR/VR and other applications.

You can find examples of Rachel’s work on her website and can connect with her via LinkedIn.

Attend this live event by tuning in to the IGDA Chicago Twitch Channel

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

Tune in to IGDA Chicago’s Twitch Channel as we play Among Us in support of Extra Life!

Extra Life unites thousands of gamers around the world to play games in support of their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $70 million USD for sick and injured kids.

All donations support our local Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

Join IGDA Chicago for our AMA Speaker Series that allows you to ask those burning questions you have always wanted to ask to industry veterans!

This event will be held Thursday, September 24th with very special guests the IGDA Chicago Executive Board!

The IGDA Chicago Executive Board is a group with a certain set of skills including:

• Video Game Law & Business Development

• Marketing, Branding, & Opera Singing

• Video Editing, Streaming, Production, & Design

• Game Development, Teaching, & Community Engagement

• 3D Art, Animation, & Modeling

• VR/AR App Development, Unity, & Healthcare Communication

Attend this live event by tuning in to the IGDA Chicago Twitch Channel

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

We're doing the thing again, but on this Thursday instead of Tuesday! Hope to see you there!

Game Dev Industry Night is an independently run social gathering/event for game developers. If you're a game developer and you're interested in a social gathering for game developers of all types (design, programming, art, audio, QA, production, indie, professional, AAA, A, Triple Indie, Triple Indie Ruining Indie, etc), please come out and hang with us!

Industry Night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked.

Indy Indies is a one-day networking and showcase event for game developers in Indiana and the surrounding region to celebrate their work, refine their practice, and connect with likeminded creators. It is comprised of talks, showcases, and live gameplay. This summer it will all be online at twitch.tv/indyindies.

PPDC is a game jam led by Coda Game Collective, a group of designers and students who advocate for games and new media as powerful tools for imagination and expression. Submissions will be open from Monday at 12:00 AM to July 27th 2020 at 11:59 PM

We invite artists, designers, and thinkers to imagine how society would function without police and to create a game or interactive experience. By imagining futures, we create models for futures that we want to achieve. The goal of this jam is to further ongoing collaboration within the game design world for creators searching for a just society. 

This challenge is game-focused, but we encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and varying media. Board games, role-playing games, video games, experimental games, games with a non-game component. We welcome diverse backgrounds, seek to create a space of mutual support, and wish to serve as a platform for underrepresented groups to find other thinkers.

This panel explores the current political situation in the US around Black Lives Matter, diversity, inclusion and representation with respect to the game industry. From game development, hiring practices, character design, and more, this panel conversation hopes to move beyond visible aspects of racism and look at institutional and structural barriers that prevent black creatives from entering and thriving in the game industry. 

Moderated By:

Ashlyn Sparrow | Assistant Director, Weston Game Lab, University of Chicago

Featuring:

Kevin Fair | CEO, I Play Games! 
Keisha Howard | Founder, Sugar Gamers
Jacob Mooney | Technical Designer, Level Ex
Derrick Fields | Waking Oni

This virtual event will be hosted by Crowdcast and live streamed to the IGDA Chicago YouTube Channel. Use the link below on July 15th at 6:50pm CST to join the audience on Crowdcast and participate in the event!

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

Covid-19 may be forcing us to change the way we meet, but it won’t stop us from bringing you content and industry experience. We will be hosting July’s event in Virtual Reality again. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to provide live demonstrations, but for those of you that have a VR headset you get to join us in VR. For those that don’t, you can join us in 2D on your PC or by watching the Facebook Live Stream.

The topic of the month is Law. Last year’s Legal Meetup discussed the wild frontier of AR as Burger King burned up competitor’s ads and AR objects inhabited spaces digitally. Is this just another form of grafitti and vandalism? Is it a legitimate space to play in when serious money is involved? Has the law begun to catch up with these new digital issues? What does it take to start a VR or AR company? How do enterprises address the legal hurdles involved with implementing immersive technology?

Join us in a virtual environment and hear from legal experts about how these problems are being resolved and where they think we are going in the future.

For new people:

Game Dev Industry Night is not for promoting yourself or anything. It is not a networking event, instead it is a social event. Please do not join us to promote things or try to get a job. We're all hanging out and chatting, not selling our brands to each other. Thank you!

Regularly scheduled information:

While parts of the u.s. pretend that the pandemic is over and everything is fine, we continue our online meeting in hopes of helping minimize the overwhelming effects of corona-virus. Thanks for understanding.

Discord link will be sent the day of the event for people who do not have it.

See you there!

Game Dev Industry Night is a social gathering for game developers. If you're a game developer and you're interested in a social gathering of game developers of all types (design, programming, art, audio, QA, production, indie, professional, AAA, A, Big Indie, Big Indie Ruining Indie, etc), please come out and hang with us!

Disclaimer:
Industry night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked. Don't be an asshole.

For new people:

Game Dev Industry Night is not for promoting yourself or anything. It is not a networking event, instead it is a social event. Please do not join us to promote things or try to get a job. We're all hanging out and chatting, not selling our brands to each other. Thank you!

Regularly scheduled information:

Here we are, still in lock down, but things are looking up. It's getting warmer, the plants in my garden are growing, and hopefully the garden of your mind, at least, is also growing through this pandemic!

I hope everyone can come join us and do some vid/voice chat in discord. I'll post the link to the discord the day of the event.

See you there!

Game Dev Industry Night is a social gathering for game developers. If you're a game developer and you're interested in a social gathering of game developers of all types (design, programming, art, audio, QA, production, indie, professional, AAA, A, Big Indie, Big Indie Ruining Indie, etc), please come out and hang with us!

Disclaimer:
Industry night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked. Don't be an asshole.

Join IGDA Chicago for our AMA Speaker Series that allows you to ask those burning questions you have always wanted to ask to industry veterans!

This event will be held Tuesday, May 19th with very special guest Josh Tsui!

Josh is a graduate of Columbia College's film program,and became known in the video game industry for his work at Midway Games. He went on to work at Electronic Arts, and cofounded two studios in Chicago, Studio Gigante and Robomodo. His upcoming documentary film Insert Coin, chronicles the rise and fall of industry giant Midway Games and was set to World Premiere at SXSW this Spring.

Attend this live event by logging on to the IGDA Discord Server and join the conversation!

Login Instructions:

1. Join the IGDA Chicago Discord Server

2. On May 19th, you can navigate to the AMA section of the IGDA Discord Server

3. Connect to the AMA voice channel to hear the conversation

4. Use the text channel to post questions to our guest

5. The channels will be open one hour prior to the event

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/

We're finally doing it! Online! In a voice/video chat room!

Here's the deal. We all want to drink and chat. I know I do. I love it! But online platforms for voice and video are kind of garbage.

For now, my plan is to do a discord server which I already have setup and ready to go. I will send the link for that here once it's time.

It's worth noting that I am trying to find ways to make the server controls easy to ban shitty people or mute loud mic people, etc, but I am not a discord server pro, so I'm still learning.

Also, I'm sure everyone is going to suggest a free for all vid chat style service like Zoom, or that I should use slack, but in my opinion, discord has the best set of features for our unique situation. Anyway, we can talk about it if you think you have better ideas. There are other options available.

Anyway. See you there!

DISCORD LINK

Game Dev Industry Night is a social gathering for game developers. If you're a game developer and you're interested in a social gathering of game developers of all types (design, programming, art, audio, QA, production, indie, professional, AAA, A, Big Indie, Big Indie Ruining Indie, etc), please come out and hang with us!

Disclaimer:
Industry night is not for pitching your company, game, project, school, kickstarter, charity or otherwise promoting yourself. Please be respectful of other developers when you show up and keep it casual unless explicitly asked. In short, don't be an asshole.

Chris Weiss is exploring the level design editor in Almost Human Games’ Legend of Grimrock!

Join him as he explores the tool set and discusses common practices with dungeon crawler level design.

Join IGDA Chicago for a new AMA Speaker Series that allows you to ask those burning questions you have always wanted to ask to industry veterans!

Our first installment will be held Tuesday, April 21st with very special guest Susan Gold!

Susan Gold is an American scholar with an academic career that spans 20 years in higher education. She is a proven leader, facilitator, collaborator and activist. She is the creator of the much loved Global Game Jam®, the annual event that brings together over 40k game developers from around the world for one creatively explosive weekend of fun and innovation.

In July of 2018, Susan launched a new extension of the event called GGJNEXT®, a game jam and curriculum for young creators age 12-17. She is widely regarded for her expertise in the areas of game education & game design, game jams, community development and large scale collaborative projects.

Attend this live event by logging on to the IGDA Discord Server and join the conversation!

Login Instructions:

1. Join the IGDA Chicago Discord Server by clicking here.

2. On April 21st, you can navigate to the AMA section of the IGDA Discord Server

3. Connect to the AMA voice channel to hear the conversation

4. Use the text channel to post questions to our guest

5. The channels will be open one hour prior to the event

IGDA Chicago is dedicated to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and harassment-free
experience for everyone. Our Anti-Harassment policy can be found at:
http://igdachicago.com/code-of-conduct/