Hi everyone –  and happy timezone!

We have been flying off of a high since gamescom. It was so wonderful to meet and connect in person with so many community members, new studio affiliates and partners. gamescom was quite the ride, and it slid right into my experience at DICE Barcelona, where I got to make new connections, meet with old friends, and gather some of the leading insights into our industry that I look forward to implementing into our own IGDA strategies for the future. 

As you know, we had to postpone the Global Industry Game Awards (the GIGAs) to later this year. We have solidified a date! I’m so excited to announce that we will be premiering the GIGAs award show on October 26 at 7 pm UTC. We’ll be premiering this on YouTube and coordinating local and regional watch parties. So, please stay tuned for more info from us on that end. 

Additionally, I hope you can check out the content in our newsletter. I think you’ll find some interesting events that you will like, such as the one we’re partnering with for O3DEngine. The O3DCon is a really exciting opportunity to learn a little bit more about the Open 3D Engine and the initiatives the Open 3D Engine Foundation is pursuing. Our Director of Global Development and I will be speaking on the importance of diversity in the workplace. So, if you will be in Austin, Texas at that time, come to the event and meet with Suzanne and me!

Now, you may have noticed I mentioned Director of Global Development–that’s because I am thrilled to announce we have promoted Suzanne from Manager to Director to better reflect her expertise and the work that she’s doing in engaging our local and global communities and building solidarity among the game developer communities across the globe. 

Suzanne, huge shout out to you and all of the wonderful things you’ve been doing since your short time here since May. 

Now with that said, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your timezone. And of course if you want to connect, if you have any questions, or if you want to see what IGDA is up to, send me an email or ping me on LinkedIn. 

Thanks and take care,

Dr. Jakin Vela

Executive Director, IGDA