Previously this week, we reported on the postponement of the Game Developers Convention, GDC 2020. In short, numerous big game development studios including Blizzard, Sony, EA, Microsoft, and several others, all decided to pull out of the upcoming convention citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19, or Coronavirus.
In the wake of all of these withdrawals, the organizers of GDC were eventually forced to postpone the convention until a safer time when the virus was more under control. Presumably, this was done so that the larger companies would return, as so many had pulled out that it would have drastically impacted the quality of the convention.
But big companies aren’t the only ones that come to these events. Conventions like GDC are absolutely vital to the indie gaming companies that come to give them a chance to showcase themselves, advertise, network, and garner experience.
When you cancel or postpone these events, massive companies like Amazon and Blizzard don’t have much of an issue eating the costs and calling it quits. But these smaller indie companies work on a much shorter budget and the financial impact of postponement can have a drastically negative effect.
Enter Wings, a gaming organization focused on diversity and promoting independent games, especially those made by women or gender minorities in gaming. If you haven’t heard of them until now, you should familiarize yourselves with them, as they’re a sizeable force for good in the gaming community.
They’ve arrived now to help with some fundraising to help support these independent companies that are struggling to reconcile the losses of the GDC postponement. As of writing this, they’ve already raised over $76,000, and that amount is raising constantly.
“The postponement of GDC at such short notice is completely unprecedented, and we’ve been blown away by how quickly the games industry has come together to help independent game developers suffering hardship as a result,” Wings co-founder Cassia Curran told in a statement. “Wings Interactive and certain fund partners are also offering online and distance meetings and pitch sessions.”
The latter part of that statement is one of the most heartwarming. Aside from the financial costs of registration and attendance for these events, arguably the biggest blow is the independent companies losing out on the networking and advertisement. By helping give a platform in the online setting, Wings is providing them with a chance to maintain some of that exposure.
It’s always fantastic to see the gaming community come together, and Wings is doing a wonderful job of helping facilitate that. If you haven’t yet, we strongly suggest you check out Wings and their campaign here.