São Paulo, Brazil (December 8, 2020) — GameJam+ — a yearly video game development marathon established to foster and mentor new independent studios and support their entry into the global video game industry — has completed its first phase of the marathon and contestants have progressed on to Phase 2: The Acceleration Phase. Phase 1 saw 1,100 participants from more than 60 cities across an amazing 22 countries. 281 teams joined in on the fun, racing to plan, design, and develop a title in such a short window, with 92 now heading to the second round.
The Acceleration Phase serves as an incubation period for the remaining dev teams to focus on their projects, and will feature lectures from industry veterans, online workshops for all the teams, and targeted mentoring exclusively for the finalists of the first stage. This stage will run from November 9, 2020, until January 17, 2021, with the finalists progressing to the Continental Semifinals. This penultimate phase will see the winners of Stage 1 undergo an assessment that will determine where the grand finalists from each region (Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania) will be selected for the Super Final in São Paulo in January 2021. Winners will be rewarded based on categories such as Best Art, Best Marketing Strategy, and Best Sound, among others.
“We couldn’t be happier with the results from the first phase,” said Ian Rochlin, GameJam+ organizer. “We had a huge number of teams from all over the world and the creativity and craftsmanship on display was astounding. We cannot wait to see what these talented developers have up their sleeves for the next round.”
The 1st Place winners hailed from all over the globe, including Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Israel, Madagascar, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, UK, The United States, and Zambia. To check out the finalists from all cities please head here.
View the trailer below to see the full list of Phase 1 finalists:
[YouTube] https://uberstrategist.link/GameJamP-Phase1Finalists-YT
[Download] https://uberstrategist.link/GameJamP-Phase1Finalists-DL
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) will be offering a one-year membership to the best projects from each continent. GameJam+ 2020 has also expanded to several new regions with this year’s event, including Singapore, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Chile, and Israel.
Stay connected by following GameJam+ on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
A full press kit is available here: https://uberstrategist.link/GameJamPlus2020-PressKit
About GameJam+
GameJam+ is a game development marathon with a primary goal of fostering the creative economy industry with new games, companies, and engaged communities while uniting the strength and interests of different developer hubs around the world. GameJam+ aims to exhibit the existence of and potential in independent games, further stimulating developers to create and view the concept of video game creation as a business.
Its fifth edition, divided into four stages taking place over seven months, will feature 20 countries, more than 1,000 participants, 281projects — 92 of which will be incubated over 2 months — and 1,000 volunteers. GameJam+ partners with renowned companies such as Sebrae, Nuuvem, Google, Poki, UK consulate, Big Festival, Gazeus, and Unity.
