Plan for Josh Williams

For those who weren't aware, I was up at the Penny-Arcade Expo last week, speaking on the Break into the Industry panel.

PAX was unbelievable. I had pre-registered for the event a couple days after it was announced, and was ecstatic when the Penny-Arcade crew invited us up to speak. PAX was a huge success and I bet it's going to be even better next year.

Let me try to relate how cool this thing was. At PAX, there was an entire floor devoted to table top gaming. There were live performances of classic scores from games like Final Fantasy and Castlevania, performed by classical, rock, and hip-hop musicians. There were a dozen hardcore game tournaments on both console and PC. There were great panels with respected speakers covering the industry and Penny-Arcade. Games like Fable, Jade Empire, and the Matrix Online were available not only as demo reels, but to actually play. In short, it was the gamer's Mecca; or, as Jay's wife called it: Nerdvana.

Probably the coolest thing though, for me, was running into a bunch of Torque development teams while at the conference, just by happenstance. It was amazing how many Torque'ers were there. It was great to meet you all! Looking forward to hopefully seeing all of you again at this year's IndieGamesCon.

I was blown away at how many people recognized Jay and I, in our GarageGames shirts. It was like being a celebrity, "Dude! You work at GarageGames!?". I was equally floored just walking around talking with people, realizing how many gamers there supported Indie games, and dream about making their own.

Every single development panel hit the subject of Indie games too. It was especially incredible to hear higher-ups from places like Microsoft and Nintendo talk about how they had high hopes that smaller, Indie devs would vitalize the game industry with unique, innovative designs and gameplay.

It says something, to me at least, when people like that recognize the kind of work you guys out in the community are doing. Almost every single time "Indies" were mentioned, GarageGames was brought up too. It is because of all the outstanding work that you all are doing that Indies have such tangible cred now. These are exciting times.

The panel I spoke on covered how to break into the games industry. GarageGames was a center of attention, with several other panel members talking about how they admired (and in some ways feared) what we're doing.


Speaking on the panel, I got to connect with some audience members on the topic of breaking into the industry and how today there are more opportunities than ever to get in. Whereas a few years ago you had to hope to get hired by a major game studio if you wanted to break into the industry, today you can own your dream, make a game yourself, and never have to answer to anyone but your players and fans. I got the chance to highlight the incredible community that has evolved here, talking about how many kickass game projects are in development right now.

Participating on the panel was great, you could literally feel how eager the hundreds of audience members were to break in. I saw more hands shoot up to ask questions on this panel... even though it was on the morning of the second day of the conference, after everyone had been up the entire previous night playing games... than on any other (besides Gabe and Tycho's own Q&A sessions).

I got the point across that the best way to break into the industry today is to get out there and just do it-- get involved in a community, form a team of like-minded gamers, get the tech you need to get the job done (Torque), and make your game. Whether or not it ever goes to market, you'll have learned an incredible amount both about game development and yourself. If your ultimate goal is to get hired at an existing game company, demonstrating that you've created your own game will speak more loudly than the slickest resume ever could. And, even better, if your goal is to make the games you actually want to play... today you can go out and build them.

Judging by the reactions of the audience, and even the other panelists, the message hit home and it was exciting for people to hear.

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here, so I won't drone on. :)

PAX had more than twice as many attendees as they expected, and given that huge attendance coupled with it being their first time ever trying such a thing, I'd say the P-A crew did an amazing job. We'll no doubt be back at the Expo next year, and I'm looking forward to it.

Getting back from such a great conference, I'm even more fired up for IGC than ever now. Can't wait to help put on the best damn Indie game dev con the world has ever seen. ;)