IFEST 2016 RECAP

Thousands of game developers make their home in Seattle. Artists, programmers, and designers fill hundreds of studios
in the area. Lots of these are the big “Triple A” shops churning out games that are household names. Far more, however, are the indie shops—the independent game developers working day and night to bring their visions to life.

iFEST 2016 at Seattle Center brought more than 40 independent game developers together in an expo style event. The games showed an impressive diversity and a wealth of talent. The addition of multiple guest speakers (including Microsoft’s Director of ID@XBOX, Chris Charla) and the great live band Harder than Contra helped draw hundreds of people into the festival.

Crowd favorites in the games included the overall winner “Gravastar” from Studio Atma (www.studioatma.com) and runner-up “Gurgamoth” from Galvanic Games (www.gurgamoth.com). There were half a dozen games running on VR platforms, as well as another half dozen created by students from our own AIE.

AIE remains firmly committed to its mission to grow the video games industry. Keep on supporting indie games!