September Update
Hello Indies!
The year is moving fast, and we’re starting to get some proper Seattle clouds and chill. Hope you’re enjoying the return to form as much as we are. Just makes you want to stay in with a hot cup of something yummy and make games, doesn’t it?
Executive Director Update
Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying what is left of the Seattle summer and gearing up for SIX and PAX for those attending. Read all about the exciting events coming up around Seattle Indies Expo in the Upcoming Events section of this newsletter. Our team really went all out this year to bring you the best possible experience we can have in a virtual format. Please be safe and cautious if you are attending PAX in person this year. Information about vaccination and testing can be found at the end of this update.
This month I want to talk about boundaries. Boundaries are a set of rules that govern interactions between people to maintain healthy relationships. These include and are not limited to physical touch, conversational limits, and emotional intimacy all to set a level of comfort and expectations in how we treat each other and expect to be treated. Seattle Indies has a defined set of rules and boundaries in our Code of Conduct that provides a level of assurance for our community members so they can feel safe attending our events and interacting with each other in our online forums knowing that these rules and boundaries are in place and will be enforced.
Recently some of these rules and boundaries were tested, ignored, or crossed by certain people in different ways both at in person events and in the Seattle Indies Discord so we are making some changes to how we handle disciplinary infractions effective immediately.
Posts, threads, and comments that are deemed inappropriate or out of line with our community standards and code of conduct will be deleted and the person who made the original post or comment will be warned in a direct message or email about the offense. If you encounter or witness an offense please report it immediately by either pinging the @admin role in Discord, emailing board@seattleindies.org, direct messaging an Admin who is online on Discord, or finding an organizer at an in person event (or any combination of these). We encourage you to not engage directly with the person committing the offense and to do your best to maintain our values in dealing with them if you do.
This will serve as the one warning an offender will be afforded; continued infractions will result in immediate removal from the community and future events both in-person and online. We reserve the right to remove people with no warning depending on the severity of the offense. The existence of the warning system does not entitle anyone to a warning, nor does it serve as a free pass for one instance of bad behavior.
The intent of this system is to set expectations for community behavior and interactions and the potential repercussions of infractions. This rule applies to all online forums, Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Meetup, etc. These same rules apply to in person interactions but since we can’t delete spoken comments you will just be warned or removed.
On top of the rules and boundaries defined in our Code of Conduct we expect you to respect people’s personal boundaries as well and will take violations of those seriously when considering disciplinary action, even if those transgressions occur outside of our events or online spaces.
Divisive or inflammatory posts or comments are not welcome or tolerated as spelled out in the code of conduct. As always the Board and I are available for feedback at board@seattleindies.org or on our Discord in the #🗣-feedback-for-us or you can directly ping the @admin role in Discord and one of us will respond. You can use these same methods to report any infractions.
Another change that was already implemented is a requirement to use a nickname on the Seattle Indies Discord that is either your real name, a name that you go by or are easily identified by in person. Organizers will be enforcing this rule if you attend our online events or are frequently active on Discord and haven’t made the change yet.
All reported or observed incidents, either online or in-person are reviewed by the Board and our organizing team.
The aim of our online and in person interactions in this community is to affirm and uplift each other and provide critical feedback or advice when it is asked for and is given in a consensual manner. The safety and integrity of the community, our members and our values in these interactions come above all else.
Please respect our rules, boundaries, and other people’s personal boundaries as well so we can continue to make this an amazing, welcoming, inclusive, and fun community to be a part of for anyone who wishes to pursue game creation as a hobby or profession. We have all built something special here and with your help we will be able to maintain and grow it into what we hope it will become.
Be safe and read on for this month’s news.
Recap
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and IGDA-DC put up an Arcade Jam which wrapped up last month. If you’re missing the good old times, check out the arcade submissions right here!
Hype Jam also wrapped up last month, a Jam for Video Trailers! You can check out all the awesome entries here: https://itch.io/jam/hype-jam-2021
Upcoming Events
Seattle Indies Expo, the biggest annual celebration of independent games and their creators from the Pacific Northwest is coming this month! We partnered with SOBA once again to bring you 3 long live streams showcasing and discussing the games. They will take place on Sept. 11th, 18th and 25th, so make sure you add them to your calendar! And check out the Full Lineup Here.
We have some amazing sponsors to thank this year for making this all possible. Our Champion Sponsors are PlayEveryWare, Stoic Studio, Academy of Interactive Entertainment, 4Culture, Mega Crit Games, and Modern Wolf. Our Partner Sponsors are Unbound Creations and Hooded Horse. Our Community Sponsors are Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, Purple Arcade and Premack Rogers. We are about to announce our Headline Sponsor for this year as soon as everything is finalized with them and are excited to have them on board, thanks to everyone who gave so generously this year to help make SIX an amazing event for everyone who is participating!
In some other exciting SIX related news we have secured front page placement on Twitch during the first hour of the broadcast from 11 am – 12 pm Pacific on Saturday September, 11. Tune in to see a preview of all 24 games that will be featured over the three days of SIX and meet our hosts for the weekend.
Speaking of hosts, we’re excited to have Meg Kaylee and Goobers back with us again this year! Meg will be our main host on Sep 11th and 25th and Goobers will be on the 18th. We are thrilled to have them back again this year and know that they will bring the excitement and energy for all of the games and developers that will be featured over the three day event.
Last but not least we will be hosting a Steam sale and event on Sept 11th and 12th to coincide with the opening weekend of SIX festivities where we will be featuring all of the games from SIX 2020 and SIX 2021 along with games from our sponsors. This will be your chance and the larger Steam community’s chance to pick up some great Seattle made games at a discounted price or to wishlist those hot up and coming titles you see on this year’s broadcast so you will get notified of their release or availability on Early Access.
Monthly Events
The Seattle Indies Social is happening on September 21st at 7 PM, all digital through Discord.
Are you a composer? We are still looking for compositions to add to our Seattle Indies YouTube playlist! We will be playing the playlist on our Discord 24/7 for everyone to hear! If you want to be included on the playlist, please fill out this short form. We just need your name and your YouTube link. We are currently limiting it to one piece/YouTube link per composer.
This week’s Game Club will take place September 15, 2021 at 7:00 PM and focus on “The Red Strings Club & Essays On Empathy.” Just hop onto the #game-club channel on Discord! What a book club is to a discussion of literature, this event is to a discussion of game design. Every month, we agree to play a game, then meet to discuss and analyze its design and presentation.
In case you missed it, Indie Support Group has been rebranded to Coffee Break and is happening weekly as well! Tune in every Saturday from 1pm on our Discord in the #isg-voice channel, Curious how to start learning something? Want to chat with someone of another discipline? Need a place to work on a project and share it with others? ISG is a social, game development focused work group that encourages people of all skill levels and disciplines to come together and collaborate for the benefit of all.
We are bringing back Feedback Circle as a standalone event on October 13, 2021 @ 7PM for you to get critical feedback on your game from our community of developers.
Local Dev News
Tau Ceti Studio shared some new updates for Void Eclipse, turn-based strategy in an immersive sci-fi world. Check it out on Steam.
Heretic133 shared their solo project Divan, an ActionRPG. Here’s a reddit post with more info if you’re intrigued!
Momo released their first game on Google Play store titled Pam’s House, a cute point-and click, escape room style puzzle game! Check it out here.
Victor shared some interesting stats from participating in GamesCom with Ghost Neko Jump. If you like data, check the full tweet.
Jay also shared a PressKit template they made, and it’s free to use! Check it out here.
William released an update to _keyboardkommadner (featured in SIX), read all about it here.
Miko hit 1,500 twitter subs and celebrated with some GameDev tips for all! Read them here.
D.W. officially released The One Who Struggles version 1.0, a game that pits you against a single multi-phase boss. Check it our for free here!
James released Squirreled Away a little action-puzzle game for mobile. Check it out on Apple or Google store!
Harassment Policy, AAPI, Black Lives Matter, and Resources
Seattle Indies stands with the AAPI community. We are here for our members who have been affected by the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes both locally and nationally. For further resources to educate yourself on the issue and how to take action, here is a useful link: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Seattle Indies hopes to start having in person meetups again soon. To that effect we need everyone to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus as soon as you are able. The Washington State Department of Health has this website for information on where you can get vaccinated in your area.
Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared this past week and before. We strongly condemn the actions by people in power preying on the dreams of vulnerable people trying to make their way in the industry and strive to build an inclusive community that welcomes all minorities to provide a safe environment and a better vision for the game industry.
While our code of conduct states a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind we are especially sensitive to the daily challenges faced by womxn due to the ingrained sexism that has existed in the structure of the games industry for far too long. We are actively working to build a better community of game developers and we all need to do better.
Additionally Board Member August Belhumeur has offered to be a personal resource for anyone who needs help, someone to talk to or some guidance on next steps if you have experienced harassment in the industry either at our events or elsewhere. She can be reached at august@seattleindies.org.
Our friends at Take This Org have compiled valuable resources for anyone in immediate need of professional help for their situation.
Lastly, Seattle Indies and Diversity Collective+ support Black Lives Matter. Here are some resources compiled by Diversity Collective+ for how you can offer support, whether this is financial, contributing to petitions, preparing for protests, or getting informed. If you have additional resources, comment below and we will add them.
As always, keep an eye on our Discord for any last-minute news and discussion, and let us know about any projects you’re working on that you’d like shared on our Steam or Itch collections or tweeted about from @SeattleIndies!
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