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MIT Game Lab and Boston Indies Announce 2^nd Annual
Boston Festival of Indie Games

Thousands Expected to Attend September 14, 2013 on MIT Campus

January 15, 2013 ---Cambridge, MA— The Boston Festival of Indie Games, presented by MIT Game Lab and Boston Indies, announced today that the 2^nd annual Boston Festival of Indie Games will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at various locations on the MIT campus.

A celebration of independent game development in a variety of media and genres, Boston Festival of Indie Games is free and open to the public. More fest details, such as the opening of attendee registration and game submissions, will be announced in late February 2013. To stay informed on fest progress, sign up for updates on www.BostonFIG.com.

Boston Festival of Indie Games provides independent game developers with the opportunity to show off their games, get feedback from the public and win great prizes in the BFIG Digital Games Showcase. Festival attendees play video games, tabletop games and live action roleplaying (LARP) games in a casual, inclusive environment, plus attend film screenings and talks. Attendees can also become game developers themselves by participating in digital game jams, creating their own board and card games, and attending screenings and lectures about the process of making games.

Highlights from the 2012 Boston Festival of Indie Games included:

·         Over 2,000 attendees walked the halls of MIT playing nearly 50 digital and board games, including the five showcase winners…That's So Indie by Chris Hanna (Best Game Design), Prime's Quest by Prime's Quest (Best Technical Quality), Negative Nimbus by CloudKid (Best Visual Art), Jack Lumber by Owlchemy Labs (Best Audio Design), and Resonance by Wadjet Eye Games (Best Narrative), along with fest favorites Fieldrunners 2 from Subatomic Studios, and Girls Like Robots from PopCannibal.

·         The Adobe Game Jam featured seven development teams, given the theme of “independence,” and set loose to create complete games by the end of the day, which were later demonstrated to festival crowds.

·         Guest curators for the Games Showcase included Tim Stellmach and Geoff Pitsch from Harmonix, Eitan Glinert from Fire Hose Games, Jason McIntosh with Gameshelf and Philip Tan of MIT Game Lab.

·         Full-house film screenings included Indie Game: The Movie, Get Lamp, Going Cardboard and Darkon.

·         Featured keynote speakers included Jason Scott, filmmaker of Get Lamp, and Leigh Alexander, Kotaku columnist and established games industry journalist, plus Peter Molyneux dropped in as a surprise guest.

·         Featured Boston Festival of Indie Games partners and supporters that made the 2012 event possible included Adobe, Unity, Dell-Alienware, Wacom, Tapjoy, Stomp Games, Yelp!, DIGBoston, MassDiGI, The Tap Lab, and Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton.

“The MIT Game Lab is the perfect partner for an event like Boston Festival of Indie Games, with both organizations’ shared dedication to game development and the New England games community” said Rik Eberhardt, studio manager at MIT Game Lab and Boston Festival of Indie Games co-producer. “All of us at the MIT Game Lab are pumped to continue to be the location and promotional partner for Boston Festival of Indie Games in 2013 and beyond.”

"As a sponsor, speaker and attendee of the 2012 Boston Festival of Indie Games, I was impressed with the quality of the programming and showcase games, as well as the overall attendance - there was an unforgettable energy at MIT last year," said Michelle Yaiser, gaming content and community manager for Adobe. "We are excited about the updates to come to BFIG in 2013 and look forward to staying involved with the fest and the ever-vibrant Boston Indie community." 

“We are very much looking forward to bringing the same level of quality programming, games and sponsors to our 2013 event,” said Caroline Murphy, community manager for Boston Indies and Boston Festival of Games co-producer. “Adding to the stellar line-up of activities that took place in 2012, we are planning to make a number of improvements in 2013 including a bigger space to accommodate for thousands of fans and attendees, music performances, panels and more!”

About the Boston Festival of Indie Games:

www.bostonfig.com.

The Boston Festival of Indie Games is a celebration of independent game development with emphasis on the New England and neighboring regions.  The Boston Festival of Indie Games seeks to support and showcase the efforts of independent game developers by providing a free public event that encourages attendees to share and interact with games in various media, including video games, location-based games and tabletop games.  Produced under the non-profit auspices of BeEpic, a Boston location-based games production group, the Boston Festival of Indie Games is focused on creating an intersection between community, academic and independent interests in game play.

About MIT Game Lab:

http://gambit.mit.edu/

The MIT Game Lab brings together scholars, creators and technologies to teach, conduct research and develop new approaches to applied game design and construction. Ranked by the Princeton review as the #2 Game Design Program in North America, the MIT Game Lab maintains MIT’s roles as leader in the study, design and development of games. The MIT Game Lab’s goal is to explore, educate and engage the public by creating groundbreaking games, interactive online courses and new applications to real world challenges.

About Boston Indies:

www.bostonindies.com

Boston Indies is a community of dedicated independent game developers in Massachusetts and the surrounding area.  Boston Indies works to foster a sense of community among Boston’s independent game developers, facilitate monthly meet-ups and other related community events, encourage developers to create games independent of large budgets and large company ties, provide a safe environment to obtain critical feedback on game development works in progress and serve as a brain trust for important information sharing among local independent developers.

To schedule an interview or for more festival info, please contact Elicia Basoli or Caleb Garner, Boston Festival of Indie Games publicists, at press@bostonfig.com; or contact Andrew Whitacre, Communications Director at the MIT Game Lab, at awhit@mit.edu or (617) 324-0490.  More info is also available at www.bostonfig.com.

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