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Global Game Jam Belfast on 21st-23rd January

What’s Global Game Jam?

Global Game Jam is a worldwide event focused on creating games; from fully interactive video-games, to board games and card games. Some of the games are created for charitable causes, such as Games For Change. The global event involves a number of large industry sponsors, including PayPal, Unity, Sony Interactive, Microsoft, and it often acts as a stepping stone for new games developers.

Farset Labs Hackerspace and NI Game Dev Network have teamed up with the to coordinate a Northern Ireland site of Global Game Jam, streamed online with the option for teams to meet in the space.

Starting with a live-streamed kickoff event at 7pm on Friday 21st January, the jam will run from until Sunday 23rd January, and is a brilliant chance to virtually meet and collaborate with people from the local games industry while making interesting games and experiences in a weekend.

How do I sign up?

You can sign up take part online, or optionally, get together in person at Farset Labs Hackerspace with your team.

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3!

  1. Sign up to take part
  2. Join the chat on Discord
  3. Optionally, book a desk at Farset Labs Hackerspace

There is no required skill level to take part – programmers, artists, musicians and enthusiasts are all welcome.

In 2020, Farset Labs Hackerspace hosted over 50 aspiring games designers developing more than a dozen games in the 48 hour period.

What happens during Global Game Jam?

Every year, a theme is announced at the start of Global Game Jam.

Our theme for 2022 will be announced on Wednesday 19 January, and previous years have seen amateurs and professionals from all over Northern Ireland come to create thought-provoking projects, and have fun while doing it. The first Global Game Jam was run in 2009, and this year there are already over 500 individual sites registered around the world. Farset Labs will be broadcasting live from Belfast throughout the event, as well as sharing feeds from Jam sites world-wide.

Belfast based charity Farset Labs Hackerspace, has hosted Northern Ireland’s only public site of the international Global Game Jam hackathon for the past 9 years, and this year they’re bringing it back in partnership with NI Game Dev Network.

Contact

You’ve got a couple of ways to reach us for more information.

Location

You can take a virtual tour of Farset Labs Hackerspace to check out the location before booking a desk.

Address

Farset Labs, Unit 1, Weavers Court Business Park, Linfield Road, Belfast BT12 5GH

Global Game Jam

Global Game Jam is an annual event taking place every January, started in 2009, that brings together talented individuals from across the community. It is a unique opportunity for people to push their skills and challenge their way of working while making games. Participants work concurrently with other developers around the globe; rallying around a central theme, with 48 hours to create a game or prototype.

https://www.globalgamejam.org

Farset Labs Hackerspace

Farset Labs Hackerspace is a community funded and volunteer operated educational charity, opened in 2012 as a place for creativity and technological tinkering. It is a shared facility for creative and technological experimentation and co-working, as well as a popular event venue. The facility is open to anyone interested in tinkering and welcomes people from all walks of life to use its space, attend events, and get involved with the maker community in Northern Ireland.

Farset Labs is a Registered Charity (NIC102754) and a non-profit Private Limited Company (NI611278), based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

https://www.farsetlabs.org.uk

NI Game Dev Network

NI Game Dev Network is the community for everyone interested in making games in Northern Ireland, from accomplished studio heads to students just getting started in the industry. We facilitate regular events and networking opportunities, and aim to help businesses here in NI collaborate for collective benefit.

https://nigame.dev/

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