PAX (first called Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of festivals that celebrate gaming culture, including tabletop games, arcade games, and video games. PAX is held every year in Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Melbourne. Earlier, it was also held in San Antonio.
Gamescom is a trade show for video games held every year at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany. It is the world’s largest gaming event. In 2018, 370,000 people visited, and 1,037 companies from 56 countries participated.
Tokyo Game Show (東京ゲームショウ, Tōkyō Gēmu Shō), also called TGS, is an annual video game event held in September at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. It is organized by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The main topic of the event is Japanese games, but some international developers also show new games and related hardware.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual event for people who create video games. The conference includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows such as the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival. It also features tutorials, lectures, and roundtables led by industry professionals who share knowledge about game development topics like programming, design, audio, production, business and management, and visual arts.
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual event held at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is the biggest yearly meeting of independent game developers in the industry. The IGF was first started in 1998 to help support independent game makers and encourage new ideas in game creation by CMP Media, which later became UBM Technology Group. Today, the IGF is owned by Informa after UBM was acquired by the company.
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual event held at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is the largest annual meeting of independent game developers in the industry. Established in 1998 by CMP Media, later known as UBM Technology Group, the IGF was created to support independent video game creators and encourage innovation in game development. It is now owned by Informa following UBM’s acquisition.
A game jam is an event where people create a video game from the beginning. Depending on the rules, participants may work alone or in groups. The event usually lasts between 24 and 72 hours.
Ludum Dare (LD), which means “to give a game” in Classical Latin, is a game jam competition. It was started by Geoff Howland and first held in April 2002. Today, it is managed by Mike Kasprzak, who has been involved with the event since its beginning.
The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is an annual event held in many places around the world. It was inspired by the Nordic Game Jam and created by Susan Gold, Ian Schreiber, Gorm Lai, and Foaad Khosmood. The event was originally started by the International Game Developers Association’s Education SIG to encourage creativity, teamwork, and new ideas.
Nordic Game Jam is an annual game jam that happens in Copenhagen. It was started in 2006 by Gorm Lai and the Danish group of the International Game Developers Association. Jesper Juul from the IT University of Copenhagen and Henriette Moos from Diginet Øresund also helped create it.