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IGDA launches Indie Collective group to aid smaller studios

"As an indie developer, it can be difficult to navigate all of the challenges a development team faces"

IGDA launches Indie Collective group to aid smaller studios

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has launched a new Indie Collective Special Interest Group (SIG) designed to help smaller studios out.

As revealed on the organisation's website, this group will be able to assist indie developers on topics from the impact of COVID-19 as well as strategy. Speaking to GameDaily.biz, IGDA executive director Renee Gittins said that the Indie Collective is there to add expertise that smaller studios might be lacking.

The Indie Collective is chaired by Playful Studios' president Mark Stanley and features the likes of Team17's Debbie Bestwick, ID@Xbox's Chris Charla, Sony Interactive Studio's Shuhei Yoshida and Rami Ismail of Vlambeer fame.

Problem solvers

"The Global Indie Collective focuses some of the brightest minds in our industry on solving the problems that indie developers face," Gittins said.

"As an indie developer, it can be difficult to navigate all of the challenges a development team faces. Large game teams are formed of many specialists, including lawyers, business developers, and marketing professionals. As an indie developer, you often have to wear many of these hats and do not have a degree or as much background in all of these roles. Indies also have to navigate publishing processes on their own, which can be a daunting challenge for those who have not dealt with them before."

This story first appeared on PCGamesInsider.biz.


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.