Ahead of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) being held in the US next year, the Irish Game Makers Association (IMIRT) has announced €46,150 worth of scholarships to give 25 Irish game developers the chance to head over to the event.
Irish game developers, and frankly anyone involved in game development, will be eager to make it over to GDC, which begins on 14 March 2016 and carries on until 18 March; it is one of the biggest events of its kind for developers, with as many as 30,000 attendees expected at the event in San Francisco next year.
And now, for the first time, IMIRT says that it has been able to secure the nearly €50,000 in funding thanks to a new partnership being formed with the Irish organisation, GDC and UBM Tech.
As part of the IMIRT scholarship, successful applicants get an all-access pass to GDC, normally valued at €1,845, which includes the two days of tutorials and summits that precede the main event.
Winners were selected based on answers submitted to the review committee, which was composed of Brenda Romero, Laralyn McWilliams and Laura NicAodh.
“GDC is the single most important event of the year for the game industry,” said Brenda Romero, chairperson of IMIRT. “By providing these scholarships, we not only increase the Irish presence at the show, but increase the knowledge base within the country as well. We’re grateful to GDC for making this possible.”
Speaking of her selection as one of the 25 winners, game developer Jen Carey said: “Since collaboration is such a big part of creative industries, the opportunity to get to know so many amazing people is invaluable.
“I’m hoping to learn from everybody there and in turn let them know about the brilliant work done in Ireland by so many talented people.”
GDC 2015 image via Official GDC/Flickr
