Pathfindings: A Global South Initiative

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Pathfindings is a celebration of game development from the global south taking place online from November 12-15. Seeking to create direct impact by elevating and giving a platform to otherwise marginalized voices, this three day online conference will touch on development practices, culture, heritage, diaspora and decolonization with developers and the community from global south speakers who deserve to be celebrated streamed by IGDA HQ on Twitch, and can be accessed on MeetToMatch.

The event is free for developers, however a “pay it forward” option is available to help support the initiative and our parent organization, the IGDA. Get your ticket through Eventbrite

Get 15% Off Your DevGAMM Tickets

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DevGAMM 2020 conference will be held online on November 9-20. The first week will be devoted to game development and the second to networking and business.

The online part will consist of sessions and workshops, feedback sessions, round tables and showcases, a game contest, and more. Also, expect networking events that will be held offline in Moscow, Minsk, and Kyiv.

Game submissions are open! Show your project to a wide audience of the conference. Take part in the DevGAMM Awards and win cash prizes from sponsors. Submit your project for industry experts’ review on Game Design Review, Marketing Review, Art Review, and Audio Review.

If you want to practice your elevator pitch to publishers live, then Public Pitch 2.0 is exactly what you need. To top it off, draw even more attention to your game by participating at the Virtual Showcase and Streaming Showcase.

Submissions for Awards, Review series, and Public Pitch 2.0 are open until October 20, for Streaming and Virtual Showcases until November 3.

Tickets for DevGAMM 2020 are on sale now. IGDA members use promo code DG&IGDAFinland15 to get a 15% discount on your ticket during checkout.

White Nights Continues Around the World

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Are you ready for five days of networking and talks by game industry stars? Are you ready to meet top companies like Rovio, Facebook, Nordeus, Unreal Engine, Unity, VK, Melsoft, TikTok, AppGallery, and others? Are you eager to learn from leading experts, find perspective games, or talk to publishers and platform representatives? Then join the WN Fall’20 on October 26-30.

All the online features of the WN Hub platform are awaiting you: chats, video and voice calls, meetings 24/7, an updated virtual expo that features leading game industry companies, and Media and Publishers Districts. For developers, there is also a great opportunity to take part in the Dev Expo and get one Business ticket for free!

Check the speakers, choose the type of ticket and register on the website! Basic conference passes that give access to the lectures are free!

IGDA Members can use promo code IGDAfriends for a 5% discount on business/all-access tickets.

Finnish Games Career Day – job fair for Games industry professionals on 28 October is now open for applications

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Have you been thinking about changing your job or exploring new opportunities abroad in the games industry? Then, Finnish Games Career Day is the place to be! It’s an online and interactive event where you can meet some of the leading Finnish games studios, explore multiple open positions, get advice on how to get into the Finnish games industry and make your job search easier, and chances of scoring an interview for your next career step. Even if you are not ready to change your job now, you can use this opportunity to get to know the companies better, try out their games and network with gaming professionals from all over the world! 

 

All you have to do is to submit an application and wait for an invitation to join Finnish Games Career Day. 

 

So what else does Finnish Games Career Day have to offer? You will get to meet participating companies like - Remedy Entertainment, Epic Games, Seriously Entertainment, Fingersoft, Redhill Games, Critical Force, Nitro Games, DoDreams, Panzerdog, Mainframe Industries and many, many more! Apart from studios’ presentations, we will share information about relocating to Finland and the support you and your family members will get if you decide to accept an opportunity in Finland. You will also hear from participants from past events, who already live and work in Helsinki, about their experiences and they will also answer any questions that you may have.

The event will be online and interactive:

 

  • In the main event, participating companies will present themselves, new projects they are working on, talk about company culture, recruitment process and open positions.

  • At the expo area, attendees will be able to visit interactive company stands and engage in live sessions with studio representatives.

  • On the Career Wall, we will advertise multiple open vacancies from recruiting Finnish studios. 

  • You will be able find representatives of any company by associated tags and chat with them or book an online call.

  • You can even have a ‘virtual cup of coffee’ with recruiters in the lobby of the event and discuss open opportunities directly with them

Last year, we organized similar job fairs in Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Kyiv and helped 25 professionals to start a new page in their careers in Helsinki. This year, there are over 300 open positions in Finland at the games studios. And one of them could be yours! 

 

Why come to Finland for a career in the gaming industry?

Firstly, Finland has consistently been rated as the ‘happiest country’ to live in the world. This is based on world-leading education and healthcare systems, safe and clean environment for family living, many social and recreational options and a beautiful landscape that promises over a thousand lakes.

Secondly, “Finland is one of the leading gaming hubs in Europe and has some of the fastest growing game studios in the world.” says Oleg Paliy, CEO of Games Factory Talents. With an annual turnover of 2.5 billion euros per year. This industry employs about 3,500 professionals and about 35% of them are foreigners. Furthermore, with English being the official language in the industry, this presents some exciting opportunities for industry professionals from all over the world. 

There are about 240 game companies in Finland: from small startups to world-famous names like, Supercell, Remedy Entertainment, Rovio, Electronic Arts, Zynga, Ubisoft, Housemarque, Next Games and many others. So, if you have been thinking about gaining international experience and developing yourself in the games industry, then Finland is the right place to do it!

 

How can you join Finnish Games Career Day?

If you are now intrigued and want to join Finnish Games Career Day, then take a couple of minutes to fill out a simple registration form. You can also find the registration link and much more information on the Finnish Games Career Day website. While filling your registration, please indicate your specialization and skills, attach your resume and a link to your LinkedIn profile, portfolio or GitHub profile. We will assess your experience and match you with relevant job opportunities before the event itself. We will accordingly contact you, before the event, about any matching role(s) and invite you to an online interview with our talent specialist at the event. 

After filling the registration, you will get an email and a link to the online PINE platform and you can use that link to join the event on 28th October.

 

To help you get comfortable with the online PINE platform and prepare you to get the most out of the event, we will organize a preparatory WarmUp webinar on October 14th. You will get tips on how to fill up the attendee card and attract the attention of recruiting companies, get an overview of the capabilities of the online platform for the event and get answers to any of your questions.

We hope to see you on October 28th at 9.00 am (East European Time) for Finnish Games Career Day! Do not forget to sign up via the registration form before the event!

Inclusion Actions that Actually Matter in Games Companies: Survey & Discussion

We are excited to have Laura Smith, founder of Pluuro, speak at Leadership Day by IGDA Finland on September 28th.

For her upcoming presentation, Laura wants to know, "What is the most impactful action your company has taken to make YOU more empowered, more included, or more productive there?". To have your thoughts or experiences included in the discussion, please respond to the anonymous survey by Monday, September 21st. The survey takes 4 minutes to complete and can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/InclusionInGames .

In addition to her talk, insight from the survey will be used to help circulate inclusive solutions in the industry and to help companies prioritize actions that have real impact.

Thank you for your support and participation.

Like all things IGDA Finland, Leadership Day is free and open for everyone and made with love by our volunteers. To sign up and learn more visit: https://www.igda.fi/leadership-day-2020

This event wouldn’t be possible without the kind support of our sponsors: RedHill Games, Next Games, Epic Games, and Supercell.