Organizations
- WIGI – Women in Games International cultivates resources to advance economic equality and diversity in the video games industry.
- TIGA – the non-profit trade association representing the UK’s games industry.
- IGEA – Interactive Games & Entertainment Association is the industry association representing the voice of Australian and New Zealand companies in the computer and video games industry.
- Game Workers Unite – a broad-reaching organization that seeks to connect pro-union activists, exploited workers, and allies across disciplines, classes, and countries in the name of building a unionized game industry.
- Hand Eye Society – a Toronto not-for-profit dedicated to supporting and showcasing videogames made primarily as a form of creative expression.
- Dames Make Games – a not-for-profit videogame arts organization that creates space for marginalized creators to make, play and critique videogames within a cultural context.
- Theesa – The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is where the major players of the video game industry work together to support the bright future of video games.
- IGDA – The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is the world’s largest nonprofit membership organization serving all individuals who create games.
- Global Game Jam – is the world’s largest game creation event taking place around the globe, typically at physical locations.
- Girls Make Games – a series of summer camps, workshops and game jams designed to inspire the next generation of designers, creators, and engineers.
- Girls Who Code – an organization that values diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential to their mission. Girls Who Code focuses their work not only on gender diversity but also on young women who are historically underrepresented in computer science fields, specifically girls who come from underrepresented minority groups.
Charities & Health Resources
- Extra Life – focuses on raising money year round for hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network culminating in a 24-hour marathon of playtime at the end of each year.
- GAAM – Games Art And Music throws events throughout the year, some small, some mid-sized, and once a year they throw the GAAM Show for charity fundraising!
- Games Done Quick – a series of charity video game marathons. These events feature high-level gameplay by speedrunners raising money for charity.
- Humble Bundle – sells games, ebooks, software, and other digital content. Their mission is to support charity while providing awesome content to customers at great prices.
- Able Gamers – They utilize fun to bring inclusion and improved quality of life for people with disabilities through the power of video games.
- Child’s Play – a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in their network of over 185 hospitals worldwide.
- Games For Change – a 501(c)3 nonprofit that empowers game creators and social innovators to drive real-world impact through games and immersive media.
- Checkpoint – a charity that provides mental health resources for gamers and the gaming community.
- Anxiety Gaming – a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing mental health resources for the gaming community.
- Take This – was founded to let people know how wrong that is, that there’s help for people with mental health challenges who are also passionate about making games.
- Safe In Our World – their mission is to foster positive mental health wellbeing and deliver support not only for players but also developers, publishers, retailers and the other incredible folk and teams who make up the video games industry.
- The GameHers – a women-led community dedicated to amplifying and centering the voices of women, femme-identifying gamers and non-binary gamers who are comfortable in spaces that center women.
Grants & Scholarships
- Epic Mega Grants – has committed $100,000,000 to provide financial grants to creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open-source 3D graphics ecosystem.
- IGDA Grants and IGDA Scholar Program – focuses on improving the lives of game developers by making game development a more diverse and inclusive community.
- Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences – Offers two separate scholarships: AIAS Foundation Scholarship Fund supports aspiring student game makers in undergraduate or graduate level programs who are planning on pursuing a career in development and The WomenIn Scholarships, an effort to attract, retain and advance women in the interactive entertainment industry.
- Microsoft Imagine Cup – a technology competition that helps make an impact through coding, collaboration, and competition. Innovate with passion to tackle global issues and bring your idea to life in the Imagine Cup.
- Indie Fund – a funding source for independent developers, created by a group of successful indies looking to encourage the next wave of game developers.
- Eric Dybsand Memorial AI Scholarship – one student with an interest in AI is chosen to be the recipient of the Eric Dybsand Memorial AI Scholarship and to attend GDC, receiving the welcome and attention that Eric freely gave to others.
- ESA Foundation Grants and Scholarships and Emagination Tech Camps – harness the collective power of the video game industry to create positive social impact in communities across the country. They support geographically diverse projects and programs that benefit grantees of all ages, races and genders.
- Wings Fund – WINGS invests in indie games by teams in which women and marginalized genders developers have key positions.
- Macfound Grants – 100&Change, their competition for a single $100 million grant, is open to any proposed solution to any critical problem of our time. Nonprofit and qualifying for-profit organizations may apply.
- Ludus Project – a family foundation based in Seattle. Over the past two decades they have funded projects and organizations doing important work in medical research, social programs, and the arts, with an emphasis on literary arts.
- National Endowment for the Arts – These grants support arts projects that use the arts to unite and heal in response to current events; celebrate our creativity and cultural heritage; invite mutual respect for differing beliefs and values; and enrich humanity.
- Game Design Scholarships – A curated resource for links to scholarships available in the game design field.
- Moonrise Fund – an early stage equity fund backing people, not projects. They’re writing new rules and building a better, more inclusive creative economy.
- Astra Fund – A philanthropic venture fund with a mission to bring thinking games to broad audiences. Thinking games are cognitively challenging games whose systems and mechanics spark curiosity and require problem solving. These games encourage players to use skills such as spatial, logical or strategic reasoning.
- Indie Fund – A funding source for independent game projects, run by a collective of experienced game makers looking to encourage the next wave of game developers.
Networking
- Games Industry Gathering – (#TheGIG) was created to virtually replicate the experience of connecting with industry friends and strangers like we used to at the various social gatherings during large scale gaming conventions, while in a much safer and inclusive environment. Once you register (and are approved) you’ll get access to their weekly Friday Night ZOOM networking events, regularly industry professional Q A sessions, and active Discord server featuring networking rooms, job listings, and event live chats.
- GameDevDrinkUp – an international organization that has regular in-person drinking, gaming and networking events. During times of COVID, this has expanded into an active Discord and virtual networking space.
- IndieGameBusiness – focuses on building positive relationships between various forms of media and the game space as well as bringing top developers and publishers together to create great products and organizes regular industry talks and events.
- Indie World Order – provides a welcoming community. They are full of independent game developers, artists and content creators who have come together to provide each other with support, knowledge, encouragement, and fun!
- NotGDC – #notGDC is a way for people who make games to share ideas, skills and things they love with the international games community
- Indie MegaBOOTH – games that make it to the MEGABOOTH go through a rigorous curation process involving a jury of developers, academics, and tastemakers from the indie gaming community. Every title passes through the hands of jury members and committees before landing on the show floor. These selections are quirky, diverse, and genre-bending, among many other descriptors. They have a supportive mailing list and Discord for alumnis.
- Media Indie Exchange – (MIX) is all about the games – created by indies and indie game enthusiasts to provide a casual yet professional setting for developers to showcase their projects to top journalists and key folks in the industry. They showcase games at major events and online.
- GameDev Network – A very active Discord server for game development collaboration and advice.
- Indie Game Jams – A calendar that tracks all running game jams.
- Game Confs – A calendar that tracks all running game conferences and events.
- IndieDB – Indie games are changing the world, one giant pixel at a time. With Indie DB they aim to support independent developers and their games, by providing them with a place to showcase their hard work (in-progress or complete) to fans seeking original gaming experiences.
Jobs & Careers
- Student Job Resources – A collection of some of the best work-from-home, remote options that you can use while you’re still in school. The nice thing about some of these options is that they could translate into more work experience and help you prepare for a more serious role after you graduate.
- Work With Indies – Finally, a single place to find all the cool jobs in indie games.
- Game Dev Map – gamedevmap is a living map and catalog of game development organizations. Publishers, development studios with a staff of five or more, studios with previously published games, and studios under contract with a publisher are listed. Middleware companies, service providers, and schools are not currently being tracked. gamedevmap does not track individual talent, consultants, or mod groups.
- GameDev.Jobs – Are you looking for a job in the games industry? Search the GameDev.jobs database, upload your resume manually or by importing from LinkedIn, and track your job applications. You can also sign up for Job Alerts, and we’ll let you know whenever a game development job shows up that meets your criteria. Also look for our twitter hashtag #gamedevjobs!
- GameJobs.Co – Job listings are collected from hundreds of game company websites several times a day. Instantly search and filter to discover exactly what you’re looking for.