Indie showcase Day of the Devs has now become a fully independent non-profit organisation and has also launched a fundraising campaign.
This comes from an official release from Double Fine Productions and iam8bit stating that the organisation will continue to “celebrate the creativity, diversity and magic of video games, give a voice to emerging or underrepresented talent, and to connect players with developers, and their games."
The organisation went on to say that it has illuminated numerous games with a vibrant spotlight, welcomed tens of thousands of attendees to its in-person events, and engaged millions of viewers through its virtual showcases. “And we have done all of this for FREE - providing our programs for no cost to either developers, or players," they point out.
Paving a new path ahead
In recent years, the organization relied on industry sponsorships, earnings from game bundles, and a significant amount of “largely donated time" to facilitate these initiatives.The decision to become a non-profit "opens us up to better funding opportunities, makes our fundraising efforts more transparent and public, and helps our sponsors and audience understand how critical their support truly is," the organisation said.
Though not explicitly mentioned, this also implies that Day of the Devs is shifting its showcase from any connection with Microsoft, the parent company of Double Fine. “This establishes Day of the Devs as being fully independent from other video game related organisations, which clarifies our commitment to being 100 per cent platform agnostic," wrote the team.
Day of the Devs is now urging its community to come together and support its ongoing initiatives for 2024 and beyond by making donations, “So we can all continue celebrating the majesty of video games together" as it aims to raise $500,000.
Looking ahead, the team has outlined various events scheduled for the next 12 months including the in-person Day of the Devs: San Francisco event set for March, a digital showcase at Summer Game Fest, and a Game Awards Edition in December.
