Sometimes you can't do everything.

Each year GarageGames hosts IndieGamesCon - a unique event where indie developers can network, share and reflect on our creations and envision a new world of game development - where a start-up team can take a prototype game and then see it on a next generation console the next year. However this incredibly fun gathering of independent developers comes with a price for GarageGames. Each year it takes us offline for a big chunk of time, and even though it takes a big chunk of time, each year we do it again - to build contacts and secure business relationships - but above all to engage face-to-face with the community that's helped build us from four dreamers into a thriving company. But recently, as IGC has approached it has become painfully ever more clear that we can't both deliver a quality event that we want this October and fulfill on the products that we have promised for this year: Torque Game Builder, Torque X, Torque Shader Engine on the near horizon, Constructor at Beta #9, and even an update to the Torque Game Engine about to go out the door.

Reading up on the GG blogs and forum posts might give you an idea of just how hard it has been for us to even consider pausing IGC. In my last blog I talked about our plan for IGC that was aimed to both make a for a more interesting event, as well as decrease the amount of time necessary to put it on. Even still as we looked at the large to-do list for IGC we realized we simply have too much on our plate to properly deliver on expectations for the event. Given our schedule we've made the agonizing decision to put IndieGamesCon on hold for this year. For the few who have already purchased IGC tickets, we will of course refund them. We will be sending individual emails to each of you.

Now is a time of amazing opportunity for independent developers - from the opening of next gen consoles to the explosive growth of the casual games market. There has never been a more opportune time to be an independent developer and in my opinion never a more exciting time to be in the business of making games. In the balance we had to choose between putting on an event that we dearly love and delivering on the tools that will enable our community to make real the dream of a true independent games movement.

We understand that many of you will be disappointed with this decision. Believe me when I say that this disappointment is echoed by everyone here on the GarageGames team - noone loves IGC more than we do. But when we had to weigh this disappointment against the benefit that the whole GG community will see from the work we are doing, it was a decision we had to make.

- Mark