The Game Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) announced that it would partly subsidise attendance at Game Connect: Asia Pacific (GCAP) for Australian game development employees recently made redundant due to cost cutting or studio closures.
GDAA President Tom Crago said, “we are conscious of the fact that one or two Australian studios have recently fallen on tough times, and that as a result a number of very talented and passionate developers have been let go. We are conscious also of the financial hardships that this inevitably brings. As an industry association, we are determined to do what we can to help people caught up in this unfortunate turn of events.”
The GDAA is offering to make full GCAP registrations available for $370 (a saving of $200) to any Australian video game industry employee who has been made redundant this year.
“We want as many members of the game development community as possible to be able to attend GCAP,” said Crago. “It is the centre piece event of our industry, and the perfect place to make connections with the many local studios who are still looking to hire. It might also provide a springboard for new business ideas and innovations. I’d like to think we’ll see some new companies emerge in 2010, and by bringing everyone together for GCAP we hope to help facilitate that process.”
For more information about GCAP, and to view the program in full, visit www.gameconnectap.com
To apply for the GDAA subsidy please email mmcnabb@gdaa.com.au
Still pretty steep.
Still pretty steep.
Student pricing is $280 for
Student pricing is $280 for early bird.
They'd be better off treating recently made redundant individuals enter at student pricing.
I agree with Tom Crago it'd be nice to see more smaller companies emerge this year.
This is a nice gesture. Even
This is a nice gesture.
Even at that reduced price there is no value for money though. Looking at the program this year it seems that not only has it not grown in recent years, the scope seems to have shrunk significantly since the days of AGDC (which was also way overpriced).
I haven't paid much attention to GCAP the last couple years (since the overblown expense of attending plus travel to another state really wasn't attractive...plus work deadlines :P) but has GCAP always been so poor, or has it been badly run the last couple years and so (seemingly) lost the support of the development community (both local and international), as well as sponsors that AGDC somehow managed to attract? Perhaps the australian development industry is just too small to support a decent conference that offers value for money? (Is that why AGDC stopped?)
I'll have to check this up, but it seems you may be able to get tickets to the epic welcome reception, on the sunday night, for $75, which is arguably the best value proposition by far, as it's probably the best opportunity for networking, and assuming drinks are on the house you can probably just about get your moneys worth in 2 hours :)