The organization behind the Boston Festival Of Indie Games, a yearly event based in New England centered around independent game developers and designers, has just announced that they will host the very first edition of their new concept FIG Talks at the start of 2016. The concept, with a name referencing the wildly popular TED Talks, will be aimed at budding developers and game designers wanting to learn more about the industry they want to work in:
“Running FIG Talks as a separate event from our annual festival really allows us to explore all the topics and frontiers that we want to. We already have some of the brightest minds in the industry involved in BostonFIG, and we can’t wait to dedicate a standalone event to hearing from them.”
The event, hosted at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge, USA, will feature panels and workshops by industry professionals on game business, game design and game development. Attendee tickets are as of yet unavailable, so keep a lookout on the official website.
The organization has opened submissions for speakers at the event, so if you've got a great idea for a presentation (or, indeed, already have one) and you're willing to impart that knowledge unto others, you can send in a submission!
Quick Take
I love ideas like this. The gaming industry can be incredibly daunting to newcomers, so something like this may serve to ease hopefuls into what it means to be a game designer or developer. A concept like this might not only attract hobbyist designers but might also convince them to use their talents for an actual public product. The industry sorely needs people with new and fresh ideas and something like this may push them out of their bedrooms and into an actual office!
