SGDA and IGDA
To complement the SGDA’s activities as a political and legal representative for game development within Switzerland, the organization closely collaborates with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). The collaboration helps to foster connections with the international game development community as well as organise grassroots community events via the IGDA Switzerland Chapter.
What is the IGDA Switzerland Chapter?
The IGDA is the world’s largest non-profit organization advocating the game development industry. The IGDA Switzerland Chapter, coordinated by Chris Solarski, is one of over 90 chapters worldwide, which benefit from knowledge sharing and cultural exchanges via community events, special interest groups, and scholarship programs. Swiss game developers are advised to become both SGDA members and IGDA members to benefit from industry support within Switzerland and abroad, respectively.
The IGDA Switzerland Chapter makes a distinct contribution to the meet-up scene by localizing global IGDA initiatives:
- Acts as the international contact point for developers outside of Switzerland through the organization of demo nights that highlight activity in the local game development community
- Promote IGDA Scholarships for recent graduates and students enrolled in game-related degree programs to attend international events such as GDC San Francisco, and Tokyo Game Show
- Organization of game jams organised by international IGDA chapters—such as the Fukushima Game Jam hosted by IGDA Japan
- Raising awareness of the IGDA Leadership Summit—the IGDA’s largest community event—as well as other IGDA initiatives
- Foster connections with international chapters (see complete chapter listing) by inviting IGDA delegates to present at Swiss studios and educational institutions
A full list of IGDA member benefits can be found here.
The official group page on the international site: Switzerland chapter
The Facebook group page of IGDA Switzerland
Chris Solarski, IGDA Switzerland Chapter Coordinator
Chris Solarski is an artist game designer and author of Drawing Basics and Video Game Art: Classic to Cutting Edge Art Techniques for Winning Video Game Design (Watson-Guptill 2012)—which has been translated into Japanese and Korean. His work explores the intersections between video games and classical art and film, to better understand how interaction has changed the way in which we interpret and engage with images. His particular focus is on adapting techniques that help designers convey complex narratives and emotions in video games. Chris has given talks at many international events including the Smithsonian Museum’s The Art of Video Games exhibition, GDC Europe, SXSW, UCLA Game Lab, USC Interactive Media Division, NYU Game Center, and FMX Stuttgart. He is currently working on an unannounced video game project under Solarski Studio, while writing his second book.