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Hello GGJ Community

Happy New Year and happy holidays to all who are celebrating or have been for the past few weeks. We hope you got plenty of rest and are ready for Global Game Jam®️ 2023 to blast off on 30 January 2023!

We are closing in on 500 approved sites at the time we are writing this with 200 more waiting to be approved! We are looking forward to another amazing worldwide celebration of creativity and community in the upcoming jam. Find a GGJ site near you and join in the fun!

There is still time to register to host a site as well. Site registration applications close on 15 January 2023. Your site will be in the queue to be approved as long as you get it registered by the end of the day on the 15th.

And the Theme of Global Game Jam 2023 IS...... Going to be announced live on our Twitch channel during our theme reveal and GGJ kick-off stream on 28 January 2023 starting at 10am Pacific. (Had you there for a minute) Tune in, find out the theme and meet some of the incredible GGJ organizers and jammers from all over the world as we get excited for the jam to officially start.

JOIN A GGJ JAM SITE NEAR YOU

Thanks to our GGJ 2023 Sponsors!

Global Game Jam wouldn't be possible without all of our amazing sponsors!

All of these great companies and organizations are here to support our efforts to put on a memorable event for you and many have offers available for jammers and organizers to take advantage of at GGJ 2023.

Special thanks to Headline Sponsor dotbigbang who is returning for their second year as a Headline Sponsor and has some great streams, Q&A sessions and more planned for GGJ Prep Week and during the week of GGJ itself. Check out the brand new trailer for the platform here and join their Discord to start learning from the masters and the dbb community.

A big thanks to new Headline Sponsor Coherence! Coherence is multiplayer made easy! It takes just a few moments to configure a scene and game objects so they can see each other over the network. Using the free cloud hosting option, you can then deploy your project online directly from within the Unity editor, and even share your WebGL build hosted at coherence. A network engine, SDK and platform that lets you make and run scalable multiplayer games in minutes. A full-featured toolbox for multiplayer networking that gives you everything you need to develop, test and run your game. Build virtual worlds, room-based games or a combination of both – automatically scalable in the cloud and on bare metal.

Thanks to our Empower sponsors:
CrazyGames
Yahaha
Google Firebase
Photon

Thanks to our Diversifier Sponsors:
Unity
Inworld
Global Engagement Center
Cubzh
UK Games Talent and Finance
GitHub

And our Global Promotion Sponsor
SideFX

CHECK OUT THE FULL LIST OF GGJ 2023 SPONSORS & OFFERS

GGJ 2023 Site Accessibility Fund supported by Autodesk

We are delighted to announce the GGJ Accessibility Fund for GGJ 2023, with thanks to our friends at Autodesk for making it possible!

Approved sites can apply for a small grant of up to $500 to help open up your site to make it accessible to more people.

Your site can apply for funds where they can directly be used for improving the accessibility and enabling more jammers to attend to make games.

Here are some examples of direct improvements:

Accessibility ramp installation
Disabled toilet installation
Sign language interpreters
Heating/cooling equipment
Safe transportation for jammers
Braille guides
Better technical equipment
Support with mental health resources/spaces

If you have another need that is not described above, but would make your site open to more people, please do submit an application.

Applications must be made by the named site organiser, and their site must have been approved by their regional organiser. If you are a jammer with support needs who wants to attend your local site, you must apply through your local organiser. If you need help to start this conversation, email us at help@globalgamejam.org.

For the best chance of receiving the grant you will need to illustrate the following in your application:

The reason you would like the grant, and how it would make your site more accessible for jammers.
The amount you would need to make the request happen
Any risks around the project
Agreement to follow up on the project with a small report/email about how the funds helped your site

To apply, fill in this application form as soon as possible. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. No more applications will be considered after the 16th of January 2023. A limited number of grants are available for 2023.

If you or your company would be interested in supporting this fund, please get in touch with us.

APPLY FOR THE SITE ACCESSIBILITY FUND

Make your GGJ 2023 Diversifier Suggestions now!

Diversifiers are a great way to add a little more fun or challenge to your jam weekend. Sometimes they can be very helpful to limit your scope or refine your ideas. They are totally optional constraints you can choose to add to your GGJ Online game alongside the main focus of the theme. It can help your game stand out from the crowd, and you can choose up to 4 when you submit your game! This year's diversifiers will also be available in other languages, which will be linked to this post as soon as they are ready. Last year's diversifiers can be found here: https://globalgamejam.org/news/ggj-2022-diversifiers

You can suggest Diversifiers in the categories of Accessibility, Art, Audio, Code, Design, Meta, and Narrative. We'd love to hear your suggestions for diversifiers for Global Game Jam 2023!

MAKE YOUR GGJ 2023 DIVERSIFIER SUGGESTIONS

GGJ hosts the recap stream of the Woman, Life, Freedom Game Jam

"Woman, Life, Freedom" This is what people in Iran are now chanting in streets during their protests against massive violations of women’s rights, corruption in all branches of government and autocratic laws and regulations.

Global Game Jam was proud to host the emotional and moving recap stream of the event on our Twitch and YouTube channels that featured some Iranian game developers and our own Director of Communications Tarja playing the games and sharing the powerful stories that inspired their creators.

Play all of the games on their itch.io page and learn more about the jam on the official website.

Global Game Jam Presents: The Community Spotlight: Anthony Ortega

Anthony Ortega: " I really do look forward to the Global Game Jam every year!"

Anthony has been hosting Global Game Jam sites for ten years. This is his story and greetings to the Global Game Jam Community.

"My name is Anthony Ortega. I’ve been working with Harrisburg University for about 12 years as a Production Coordinator for our Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies. I’m also a corporate faculty for our Interactive Media Bachelors Program.

Additionally, in my spare time, I try to develop games for both digital and tabletop. I believe that I heard about the Global Game Jam through the IGDA. I was a member back then and I pitched it to my boss as an opportunity to get our design students into extracurricular design activities. Harrisburg University is a very young university and Harrisburg itself is not a game development hub, so we were really looking for opportunities to start trying to support and grow the local game development community.

Having done game jams in the past, I had an appreciation for how it can bring creators together to make and share. After we got accepted to be a host site, I advertised the event as much as I could and we ended up with, maybe, 40 jammers? We had a healthy balance of university students and developers from the community come and jam.

It was a great time and we saw no reason to stop. Now we’re going to be a host site for our 11th year and we continue to get a healthy mix of our students, students from other universities, and local creators. We also always have those that join us every year and those who join us for the first time.

I can’t say that we’ve grown out of the 40 person range; we usually get between 20 – 40, but the group we do get every year is always passionate and dedicated. I really do look forward to the Global Game Jam every year!"

Did you know: Take This is hosting a number of FREE workshops for game developers and members of the gaming community?

Check them out here and sign up.

Online Harassment: Communities and Creators

This workshop is designed to be an “Online Harassment 101” course. In this workshop, we will overview the scope of harassment in mobile gaming communities with a focus on the harassment of mobile game creators through social media. This is designed to be a one-hour workshop that will end with a solutions-focused discussion about how to integrate effective policy and support structures.

Optimizing Game Design: Diversity Representation and Psychological Impact

Digital games are often discussed as tools for learning and change, but how can industry professionals optimize the conditions for change? Drawing on work from psychology, sociology, and media studies, this workshop is specifically designed for mobile game makers to gain a better understanding of how representation and diversity are critical for optimizing their mobile games for impact and engagement.