At the Game Developers Conference, the Games Industry Really Needed a Good Scream
Over 50 developers met today for a coordinated group scream to lament the state of the industry.
Today, over 50 game developers met in a park across the street from Moscone Center where the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) was taking place. They had one objective: to scream as loud as possible.
The event, known as "GDScream," took place in an open area in the middle of Yerba Buena Gardens, where event organizers assembled the crowd by holding up pieces of paper with "SCREAM" scribbled on them. One of the organizers wore a shirt printed with Munch's The Scream; another participant wore a shirt printed with an ice cream cone. At exactly noon, the cluster of individuals from all corners of game development let loose a loud scream that lasted for several seconds. As it trailed off, the group broke into relieved laughter and applaused before slowly dispersing.
The scream was organized by Scott Jon Siegal and Caryl Shaw in response to growing discontent among game developers in the face of
ongoing industry mass layoffs, as well as coordinated harassment campaigns against marginalized individuals and overall fears of worsening industry conditions. I spoke with Siegal post-scream, where they told me the event came together after they posted "half-jokingly" on Facebook about the general powerlessness they felt about it all, and wanting to get everyone together to scream. Shaw reached out upon seeing the post, and seriously offered to help organize it.