DIG (@diversityingames.bsky.social)

🎀 Thank you for joining us at Patch Notes and Petticoats! 🎀 What a wonderful turnout at our very first SoCal event. 💖 We’re still basking in the magic that happened last Saturday!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this gathering so special. Your enthusiasm, participation, and support meant so much to us! ✨

We’d also like to thank Requiem Cafe for providing such a whimsical setting, along with ASGC and Women in Games for their support and belief in our event. We look forward to many more opportunities to come together! With much whimsy, The Diversity in Games Team 🎀

🫖 Today’s the day! Patch Notes and Petticoats is here! 👗 Join Diversity in Games for our first SoCal community event: tea, fellow devs, activities & raffle prizes! 📅 Today, Oct 17 | 1-4 PM 📍 Requiem Cafe, Anaheim 🎟️ Free! Dress-up optional 🎀 RSVP: buff.ly/vFEMU1s

Proud to be community partners with ASGC, the largest grassroots games support community in the world, founded by our good friend Amir Satvat. We’re grateful for his commitment to marginalized game developers. The industry is better when we look out for each other. 🎮 buff.ly/ZK02JwJ

🫖 Just 2 days until Patch Notes and Petticoats! 👗 If you want to expand your network, meet fellow creatives, or simply spend an afternoon with people who share your passion for games, there's a seat for you at the table. There's still time to RSVP:🍵 buff.ly/vFEMU1s 🍵

SoCal games folks, we’re finally meeting in person! Patch Notes & Petticoats is Oct 17, 1 to 4pm at Requiem Cafe. Come drink tea, win raffle prizes, and meet people you might work with someday! Dressing up gets you an extra raffle ticket. RSVP: buff.ly/vFEMU1s

Happening tonight! 🎉✨ AAPI in Gaming & Diversity in Games Present: Game Devs of Color Watch Party Vancouver! 📍 LaSalle College @ 6pm (First speaker at 6:15pm) 🎟️ $12 Watch Party Pass | $20 Pass + Fujiya meal Make friends, hear from industry experts, & enjoy great talks! ➡️ buff.ly/ICZ1Mv3

Join us on Tuesday, Oct. 6 for the GDoC Watch Party Vancouver, featuring two in-person speakers! We’re thrilled to be partnering with AAPI in Gaming on this event & creating an opportunity to learn from talented game devs and their innovative work, while supporting a more equitable games industry👏

Your ticket includes entry to the event where we'll be screening a curated selection of talks, plus two in-person talks from Shavonne Yu (She/Her) and Professor Kawika Guillermo (They/He). You'll also get access to all recorded sessions from the 2026 expo!

Come join us for an evening of learning, connecting with fellow game devs, and celebrating the people and ideas shaping our industry. We’d love to see you there! 💜🎉🕹️

📅 When: Tuesday, October 6, 6–9pm 📍 Where: LaSalle College, 2808 Bradfield Court, Vancouver, BC V5M 0E3 👉 Get your tickets and secure your spot: ti.to/aapi-in-gami...

18 Sept

Salutations, our dearest community. Diversity in Games is proud to announce it's first ever Southern California tea party - a whimsical experience like no other!! Welcome to 🍵 Patch Notes and Petticoats 🍵, a lolita-inspired tea party for the finest of game developers! RSVP Here: buff.ly/oI90RkF

18 Sept

📆 October 17th, 2026 🕐️ 1:00 - 4:00 PM 📍 Requiem Cafe, Anaheim CA 👗 Dressing up is OPTIONAL but encouraged! 🏆 Cute prizes available for raffle! 📷 Adorable photo opportunities! Come meet game developers of all backgrounds because, there's a seat for everyone at the tea* table or bev of choice!

17 Sept

🔥 On September 12th, over 75 of you showed up for FORGE 2026 at Funk Coffee Bar! Thank you to everyone who came out! We are so grateful for the positive reception the event received, from the quality and insight of our curated presenters, to the warm, relaxed environment Funk Coffee Bar gave us.

17 Sept

This is just the beginning for FORGE. Our next step is gathering insights from those who participated in the Game Founders report, and beginning to assemble valuable data to identify gaps in funding.

17 Sept

We also have some exciting things to announce soon about the future of DIG, so stay tuned!

12 Sept

Today's the day!! 🔥 FORGE is finally here, and we can't wait to see you! We've got a fully curated menu of snacks, amazing talks, and wonderful people waiting for you at FUNK. See you there at 12pm; together, let's forge a path to a more sustainable games industry! 🛠️

11 Sept

LAST CALL! FORGE is tomorrow!! 🎉 Heading to XDS or just in the Vancouver area? Swing by and spend the day with DIG at FUNK! Expect panels covering accessibility, legal advice for startups, founders' stories, working with IP, and more. Get your ticket here: buff.ly/DFagq0q

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Resilience Builds Culture Closing out FORGE 2026 is a combined talk from two co-founders breaking the mold and leaning into the unconventional. This track spotlights what can happen when you make your own rules, build resilience, and have fun doing it!

Ray Maltby, co-founder of bigTEAM. A nonbinary artist, animator & game dev. They motivate their community with a focus on sustainability over raw productivity. When it comes to lessons learned as founder, Ray keeps it simple: “Nothing is too hard when you make the rubric & grade your own homework.”

luma.comFORGE (Founders of Rising Games Enterprises) · LumaFORGE is the reimagined Creative Campfire, a one-day event hosted by Diversity in Games (DIG) with the goal of raising the profile of underrepresented groups…

🎟️ Join us on September 12 and come network with Dot, Ray and other founders shaping the future of the games industry. 👉 Get your tickets: buff.ly/DFagq0q #DiversityInGames #LGBTQIA #ChronicIllness #DisabilityAwareness #GameDev #Founders #FORGE2026

Dot Phillips, co-founder of bigTEAM. Games founder & life-long schemer. Since 2023, bigTEAM has evolved into much more than a game studio-it’s been a support community, an open-invite workspace, a queer support org siphoning proceeds back into local events & a cottage-scale physical games publisher.

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: The Fine Print: IP, Law, and Making Games We are thrilled to introduce the speakers for our penultimate track: Wren Handman and Danika Kotylak! Together, they bring a wealth of experience and unique perspectives on what it really takes to build & run a successful game studio.

Danika Kotylak, Corporate & Commercial Tech Lawyer. She advises startups & emerging companies across Canada’s tech sector. Her practice goes beyond licensing & IP protection to bring technology-driven products to market. She helps founders manage legal risks before they become expensive roadblocks.

🎟️ Join us September 12: network with Wren, Danika, and other founders shaping the future of the games industry. 👉 Get your tickets: buff.ly/DFagq0q #DiversityInGames #IntellectualProperty #Entrepreneurship #WomenInTech #GameDev #Founders

Wren Handman, founder of Ludic Lemur. She is a queer narrative director, novelist, screenwriter, and studio co-founder. Wren has published 8 novels and was also the lead writer for the award-winning sitcom The Switch. Today, she is Co-Founder & Creative Director of Ludic Lemur Entertainment.

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Fires, Failures, & Fixes We've previously had the pleasure of hosting these 2 incredible speakers, so of course we had to bring them back for FORGE! This track focuses on fighting 🔥with 🔥& how to prioritize what really matters through instability, barriers and industry pivots.

Jean Leggett, founder of One More Story Games & Jean Leggett Consulting Inc. Founder of 3 successful ventures. Career joy strategist to 800+ clients in video games, tech, & entertainment. She’s also a recovering stand-up comedian.

🎟️ Join us on Sep. 12 and come network with Alex, Jean, and other founders shaping the future of games.👉 buff.ly/DFagq0q #DiversityInGames #GamesAccessibility #GameDev #Founders #FORGE2026

Alex Carey, founder of PlayAbility Consultancy. Games accessibility advocate. Founded PlayAbility 5 years ago, where they help developers identify & eliminate unintentional barriers in their games. Because gaming is for everyone!

6 Sept

We have 1 week left until FORGE! If you've been considering coming, or will be at XDS, come hang out with DIG at FUNK for our day long event! We will have panels on accessibility, legal advice for startups, founders' stories, working with IP, and more! 🎟️ Join us Sept 12th buff.ly/DFagq0q

📣 FORGE Track Reveal: Indigenous Futures, Indigenous Foundations This track highlights two Indigenous leaders pushing the games industry forward through cultural revitalization and studio sustainability.

James Smith, founder of BlackCap Creative is a Sioux and Cree Métis entrepreneur based in Kelowna BC. He is a game triage specialist, helping studios recover projects that have lost direction. His philosophy: help indie studios build sustainable businesses, not just successful games.

🎟️ Join us September 12: network with Akilah, James, and other founders shaping the future of games.👉 luma.com/i6xtq510#Div... #DiversityInGames #IndigenousInTech #GameDev #Founders

Akilah Martinez, founder of Glittering World Girl. She is a DIG x GDC 2026 Scholarship winner, award-winning artist, and creative technologist. She founded Glittering World Girl, an Indigenous-based circular economic ecosystem cycling language and culture revitalization through video art and XR tech

3 Sept

We’re partnering with AAPI in Gaming to bring you the Game Devs of Color Expo Watch Party Vancouver!✨ Join us Sep 25 at LaSalle College for screened talks + 2 live speaker sessions. So grateful to collaborate with partners who share our mission to elevate underrepresented voices! 🫶 #GDoCExpo2026

3 Sept

🎟️ Ticket includes: ✅ Local watch party entry ✅ Full online GDoCExpo ticket (Sep 22-25) ✅ VOD access, job board, game demos, & live chat

3 Sept

Grab your ticket here 👇 ti.to/aapi-in-gami... We hope to see you there! 💖

We truly could not be more grateful for the support FORGE has received. FORGE started as an idea, a conversation that was had with a handful of founders discussing what gaps there were in the industry between developers, founders, and funding programs. From there DIG shaped it into an event.

Our deepest appreciation to our amazing community of friends, event supporters and allies: DigiBC, CIAIC, Nordicity, IDGA, Fullindie, ODGA, Interactive Alberta Arts, Interactive Ontario, Seattle Indies, Brace Yourself Games, Women in Games International, Nightmarket Games, and ASGC.

Plus countless founders who have filled out the Game Founders Report, our incredible panel of speakers, our volunteers, and those who bought tickets. Thank you for believing in FORGE! If you haven't picked up your ticket yet, we hope you come join us and support investing in the future of games!

Now that event is being sponsored by Creative BC, A Thinking Ape, Hyper Hippo, and Funk! Reflecting on that for a moment has been quite humbling to say the least, thank you all for helping make this a reality!

29 Aug

✨ Sponsor Spotlight ✨ A huge thank you to FUNK Coffee Bar for supporting FORGE 2026 as our event venue! 💖⭐ More than just a specialty coffee bar, FUNK is a community space in the heart of downtown with a passion for great coffee and bringing people together. ☕💛 FORGE 📅 Sep. 12 📍1025 Dunsmuir St

✨ Sponsor Spotlight ✨ We’re thrilled to have Creative BC supporting FORGE 2026! 💖⭐ Creative BC does so much to support BC’s creative industries and the people building them. Their backing helps us create more opportunities to connect, share knowledge, and elevate underrepresented voices in games.🎮

Calling B.C. and Canadian game studio founders! 🍁 Diversity in Games is currently developing the Game Founders Report, a community-led research initiative exploring the realities of building and growing a game studio in Canada, and we are looking for founders to add their voices.

📃 Share your insights! Please start by completing our initial survey here and check “YES” to the follow-up assignment: lnkd.in/gHSv-Ar4 ☕ Join the community: Bring your laptop and meet us for coffee, snacks, networking, and panel conversations: luma.com/i6xtq510

Selected participants will also receive tickets to our upcoming FORGE event for Founders of Rising Game Enterprises. Thank you for helping shape the future of our industry! 👩‍💻

The research will examine areas including access to funding and investment, studio sustainability, business growth, founder workload, and the barriers and opportunities facing emerging studios.