Dan Graf leaves IGDA for Halfbrick

Long-serving member of the Independent Game Developers' Association Sydney Dan Graf is moving on to Halfbrick.

Graf has been with the Sydney IGDA since its humble beginnings, and has worked tirelessly in facilitating Beer and Pixels meetups, Bits and Pieces showcases, the Global Game Jam Sydney and many more events over the years.

Graf told MCV: "We started with 5 gaming nerds around a pub table wishing that we had more friends, and now we’re over 600 people. I felt very proud and totally shocked that there were that many closet game developers in Sydney."

"When it was growing, we felt like we hadn’t done much at all other than set a date and a time, but people just kept coming out of the woodwork. It felt like there was this repressed urge in Sydney. We just turned on a tap and allowed all of this goodwill to flow."

Graf's responsibilities at the IGDA were many, and are being formally taken up by Epona Schweer, who has long been an active organiser within the IGDA Sydney, and outside of teaching at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, has founded the game developer support web site Indiebits and the AIE Incubator program to help indie developers start their own businesses.

Schweer added: "Dan is the reason we're all here. He wanted a community to talk game development with so he started the IGDA chapter in Sydney."

"Dan has surrounded himself with a group of people who's driving passion is to grow the indie game community in Sydney. He's tried to cultivate a community where people WANT to get involved. That's exactly what he's done and I hope we do him proud. "

A 'Tears and Pixels' meetup is being held tonight at 7pm at the Velvet Room of the Bank Hotel in Newtown. At the event, a sprawl of indie developers will gather as usual to have drinks, discuss game projects, network and share their passion, while also bidding farewell and good luck to Dan in his future endeavours.

Schweer commented: "Everything we do is about making it easy for people to make a living creating great games. We'll continue getting together to playtest games and gives feedback every other month at Bits & Pieces and giving folks an opportunity to meet and mingle at Beer & Pixels."

"We've started getting feedback from the community for next year's game jam. Everyone's planning workshops and events to help share knowledge and make it easier for folks to turn their passion into a career. Keep an eye on the IGDA Facebook page, it's going to be an interesting year!"

Graf leaves behind a very engaged group of independent developers who all wish him well in his future life working with the creators of Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja and Age of Zombies.

Graf concluded: "It’s a fantastic opportunity and I feel honoured to be a part of a startup studio in Sydney with a name as big as Halfbrick, as I do to have been able to watch IGDA Sydney grow from its roots."

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