CanDev

Why you should support
CanDev?

CanDev is a volunteer-run labour of love, supporting and growing the Canberra game development industry. If you love games, or want to support local businesses, why not support the ones being made right here in Australia’s capital?

There’s a big industry here, and while government support continues to lag behind, community support is more important than ever. The more support CanDev receives, the more we can do for all Canberra developers, at home and away.

What is the project’s current state?

After running for 3 years, CanDev is now in an exciting period of growth.

Our flagship event is our monthly Pizza & Pixels playtesting and networking meetups. We have great ongoing relationships with Entry 29, CBR Innovation Network, Game Plus and Reload.

We now have a website at https://canberra.games, showcasing many Canberra games.

And over the past two years we’ve expanded our event lineup, adding Career Mode, Life After Launch and the Pre-PAX Warmup.

► Career Mode is a panel-style open discussion on the business of making video games. Past topics include marketing, gamification, and managing finances. Career Mode has even had interstate panellists come to Canberra just to speak on the panel.

► Life After Launch is our newest event, an honest post-mortem of local games from their developers. It’s an important window into what happens after a game launches, what we can learn from the successes, mistakes and discoveries of others, and just what goes into getting your finished game sold.

► Pre-PAX Warmup is an annual event hosted at Reload Bar & Games for the last two years. Developers exhibiting at PAX Aus – the biggest games convention in Australia – show off their games in Canberra first, a special preview before heading down to Melbourne.

CanDev is now established and looking to keep up with our growing number of members and events, as well as going beyond our events to find other ways to support local developers.

Which resources do you need for the project?

CanDev events are run and organised by volunteers. Funding helps us keep CanDev going and growing. Supporting CanDev helps us support the entire game development industry in Canberra and its surrounds.

► Funding helps us keep our events (and website) running, add new events, and put funds toward other support for local developers.

► New venues help us reach out to different audiences.

► Panellists for Career Mode help Canberra’s developers learn new skills and make their businesses more viable.

► Equipment, like computers and large monitors, let us show games at more locations and lower the cost for developers exhibiting their games at conventions.

► Printing banners, shirts, and other promotional material with CanDev branding helps us spread awareness of Canberra’s game development community.

Where will CanDev
go in the future?

CanDev is growing. If we can support and maintain that growth, there’s so much we can do. Running more events for wider audiences. Getting great industry panellists, supporting game developers in learning new skills and building their games and businesses. Branding our banners at conventions to show Australia and the world that Canberra’s united, we make awesome games, and we’re punching above our weight.

What else can we do? You tell us! As always, where the community sees a potential opportunity, need or benefit, CanDev will try to get there – with your invaluable support.

CanDev is looking for collaborators

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Find out more about CanDev