IGDA finland hubs and their role in local game development

Abstract

Game development is often considered to be a community-based industry, where social networks and flow of information are vital to both individual and company development. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) works to promote and support individual game developers by hosting local monthly gatherings worldwide. This study investigates the effects of the IGDA Finland hubs in Tampere and Kajaani. By interviewing the attendees to the IGDA events in the respective areas we aim to understand how an IGDA hub affects the local game development scene, and how the attendees perceive the uses of the events. The results show that IGDA Finland events can attract a diverse group of people with variety of motivations. Aggregating different insights and accelerating the flow of information seems important for people in very different positions. At the same time, the felt benefits for individuals seem to vary significantly based on the career phase and the expert role. Overall, IGDA gatherings are importantly connected to modes of learning in communities of practice, as they can initiate different communal processes that then continue outside the immediate meetings. This is the accepted manuscript of the article, which has been published in Turunen, M. (ed.

Timeliness in information sharing within creative industries. Case: Finnish game design

“…Until the 2020 corona crisis, IGDA Finland organized regular local get-togethers in major hub areas (see e.g. Komulainen and Sotamaa, 2020), and is likely to do so again as soon as the situation changes. People at these meetings party together, share tricks of the trade and watch technical presentations by sponsors while enjoying a couple of complimentary drinks.…”

“…Many start-ups in the scene are either design studios created by people leaving larger companies such as Rovio or Supercell or are spin-offs from schools and universities that teach game development (see e.g. Komulainen and Sotamaa, 2020). The successes of one company are seen as the success of the community.…”

Studying Game Development Cultures

“…While other cultural industries in Finland still address local audiences, most game companies have been forced to design their products for international markets. Since local companies do not operate in the same tiny market, it has been documented that they do not primarily see each other as competitors, but instead actively collaborate and share information with each other (Komulainen & Sotamaa, 2020;Lappalainen, 2014;Lehtonen, Ainamo & Harviainen, 2019).…”