We’re back with a fresh edition of GAIN’s annual roundup newsletter, first launched in 2016 to annually spotlight and celebrate game art events from around the globe!
This year, we’re thrilled to share highlights from 22 events across 14 countries, featuring everything from trailblazing pioneers to emerging voices, and from grand festivals to intimate pop-up gatherings. María Luján Oulton returns as editor, reaching out to friends, colleagues, and like-minded communities to collect their favorite snapshots from the game art events and projects of 2024.
If you enjoy this roundup, please share the link and let us know about any events, projects, or people we may have missed—we’d love to include them in future editions.
PLAYTOPIA – South Africa (Capetown)
Their Festival Director Dominique Gawlowski tells us “We could see a major uptick in attendance and interest in the event compared to previous years. We are extremely pleased with how this event has evolved over the years from a small low key indie fest to much higher level of production standards, larger attendance and much more industry support.
We had over 80 games on exhibit in our main arcade from around the world with a focus on African made games. Our Indie Planet has also grown! We have begun to develop relationships with other similarly minded festivals such as Bitsummit (Japan), Now Play This (UK), A.Maze (Germany) and Freeplay (Australia) and showcase their best in shows for South African audiences. We had two large rooms filled with both international and African made immersive art installations and two days of talks at our Playtopia summit with special guests coming to speak about the craft of making games and the creative process.”
