Game Jams as an Opportunity for Industry Development

Abstract

Game jams are social events involving the integration of enthusiasts from various game making disciplines (e.g. programming, art, design) to make games under constraints, such as a short fixed time (Goddard et al. 2014) and a common theme (Fowler et al 2013). Research on game jams has suggested that they have the potential to provide an effective and focused experience and that participants gain valuable skills in prototyping and collaboration (Fowler et al. 2013), exploring technology limits, experimenting with interfaces, and exploring themes (Goddard et al. 2014). This paper investigates whether game jams have an effect on the sense of community among developers in a weak and unsupported development ecosystem. Results from two local game jams suggest that they can in fact provide an opportunity for increasing awareness, familiarity, and participation amongst community members, and open up opportunities for identifying potential work partners – all essential elements in the move towards the development of a local games development industry.