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If you work for a news or arts publication, and you want to cover a broader range of local games in Australia and NZ, here is a thread of videogame festivals, advocacy groups & organisations that can help: https://twitter.com/lucyamorris/status/1326644642197073920
If you work for a news or arts publication, and you want to cover a broader range of local games in Australia and NZ, here is a thread of videogame festivals, advocacy groups & organisations that can help: https://twitter.com/lucyamorris/status/1326644642197073920
Represent Me ( @RepMeCharity) is a research and advocacy group that works to make the Australian videogame industry more inclusive. You can contact them here: https://representme.charity/about/site
Freeplay Independent Games Festival ( @free_play & https://www.freeplay.net.au/ ) is the world's longest running independent games festival, based in Melbourne. This year it ran digitally, and all talks are archived on their Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FreeplayGamesFest
Play by Play! This is a games conference based in Wellington. The talks are offbeat, creative, and generally engaging & meaningful to devs and non-devs alike. It's run by the team who run NZ Games Festival ( @nzgamesfest), which is also excellent: https://playbyplay.co.nz/
DiGRA Australia ( @DiGRAAustralia) is the Digital Games Research Association of Australia; if you want to get in contact with a local games academic, or learn more about games from a more academic standpoint, This is an ideal starting point. http://digraa.org/
Not every state offers games funding, but in Australia, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania do! A quick google will show you which devs have recently received funding for projects. Here is @FilmVictoria's latest round: https://www.screenhub.com.au/news-article/news/digital/jini-maxwell/film-vic-funds-eight-new-australian-games-260977
Same for New Zealand: Dunedin's Centre for Digital Excellence will be offering $700k in grants to new and ongoing games projects and studios, so you can contact them, or keep an eye out for the games that get it! https://www.dunedinnz.com/code/code-funding
Looking up announcements of past recipients for the Ka Hao Māori Digital Technology Development Fund is also a great way to learn about new initiatives and artists who are working in creative tech. More info here: https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/whakamahia/it-and-innovation/ka-hao-maori-digital-technology-development-fund
Tas Game Makers ( @TasGameMakers) is another great group for Tassie-based creatives who are interested in games: https://tasgamemakers.com/
(if you have more local, indie-specific resources/events/orgs to share, please send them my way and I'll add them to the thread)
and IMO one of the best things you can do to learn more about local art games is attend game design grad shows -- RMIT's is tonight, it's free and entirely online! https://twitter.com/christianmccrea/status/1326442429034098689
