NEWS: STEAM GAME FESTIVAL 2020

The ongoing crisis has forced Italy, as well as many European countries, under a complete lockdown in the attempt to curb the spread the of the COVID -19 virus. We were forced to cancel and postpone our planned events, including the 2020 GAME TAKS series and the MILAN MACHINIMA FESTIVAL, which will be eventually rescheduled. In the meantime, here’s a festival that all lovers of indie gamers, especially past, future, and current students of the M.A. in Game Design at IULM University should check out. We are talking about the Steam Game Festival, which features 40+ indie games that can be previewed with free-to-play demos via Steam, including gems like Plasticity, Cloudpunk, SpiritFarer, We Should Talk, and winemaking simulator Hundred Days among others.

The Steam Game Festival will run from March 18th to March 23rd.

Check out the full lineup here

NEWS: FACULTY AND STUDENTS' GAMES ON DISPLAY IN GENOA THIS WEEKEND!

At the upcoming Game Happens festival in Genoa, visitors will be able to play groundbreaking independent games in the exhibition area. Some of them were developed by our faculty, including Tale of Tales’ Cricoterie (Michaël Samyn, Auriea Harvey) and Accidental Queens’ Alt-Frequencies (Elizabeth Maler), who teach GAME ART and GAME WRITING respectively. Also on display is Milky Way Prince – The Vampire Star by former student Lorenzo Redaelli. Lorenzo, Michaël and Auriea will be on site on November 9-10, and so will be members of Genoa-based indie studio Space Backyard, who are featured among the 2020 GAME TALK series. They will present their latest project, Birds of Passage. Ditto for Dario D’Ambra (Maggese), whose talk is scheduled for April 1 2020. Dario will present his game A. The Wanderer. Last but not least, Pietro Polsinelli (Open Lab Games) who gave a GAME TALK in June 2018, will introduce his new game Football Drama. These are just some of the games featured in an impressive lineup, so head to the official website to check them out. And best of all? The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Game Happens (8-10 November @ Genova, Italy) is the international festival dedicated to the cultural, political and social impact of video games. The 2019 theme is Elements of Change.

To learn more about the indie games on display at Game Happens, click here.

NEWS: APPLE ARCADE: INDIE GAMING HAS A NEW HOME

Today Apple unveiled Apple Arcade, a new game subscription service for all iOS platforms that celebrates the creativity and ingenuity of video games. There’s never been a better time to create interactive dreams.

Apple Arcade is a new subscription game service from the Cupertino-based company. Unlike Google Stadia, Apple Arcade uses the existing App Store infostructure rather than streaming technology. More than 1 billion people have downloaded games from the App Store, and there are more than 300,000 games available already. Apple is aiming to curate some of these games into its Apple Arcade subscription service, hand-picking the best titles based on their originality, quality, creativity, fun and appeal to players of all ages. There will be one hundred new and exclusive games available on Apple Arcade, which will launch on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV in the Fall.

Some of the most renowned game creators and designers will develop exclusive content for Apple Arcade, including SimCity designer Will Wright, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Ken Wong, and dozens more. Apple is promising new content from Annapurna Interactive, Bossa Studios, Finji, Giant Squid, Klei Entertainment, Mistwalker Corporation, Snowman, ustwo games, among others. Apple is not simply curating the games for Apple Arcade, but it is also planning to contribute to the development costs of developing them. The company is fully committed to make games that matter.

Read more at Apple Arcade.