Freeplay Independent Games Festival
| Freeplay Independent Games Festival | |
|---|---|
 The Freeplay 2018 logo | |
 The 2018 Freeplay visual identity art | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Independent video game development |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Location(s) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Years active | 17 |
| Established | 21 May 2004 |
| Founder | Katharine Neil & Marcus Westbury |
| Most recent | 7 May 2019 |
| Previous event | INTERSECTIONS (2018) |
| Next event | INTROSPECTION (2019) |
| Participants | 50+ |
| Attendance | 500+ |
| Sponsors | |
| Website | freeplay.net.au |
The Freeplay Independent Games Festival is Australia's longest-running and largest independent games festival, first established in 2004.[1] The Festival celebrates fringe artists and game makers, and highlights grassroots developers and art games. It gathers artists, designers, programmers, writers, gamers, creators, games critics, games academics and students to celebrate the art form of independent games and the culture around them.
Freeplay is funded primarily through arts grants. Past and present sponsors include Australia Council for the Arts, Film Victoria, Victoria State Government, City of Melbourne, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), and RMIT University.
With the aim of celebrating game making as arts practice, Freeplay has consistently aligned itself with the arts, and over the years has partnered with arts organisations such as Australian Centre for the Moving Image, State Library Victoria, Next Wave Festival, Wheeler Centre, Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Arts House, National Young Writers' Festival, and more.[2]
The current director of Freeplay is Chad Toprak (2017–).[3] Previous directors have included Dan Golding (2014–2017),[4] Katie Williams and Harry Lee Shang Lun (2013–2014),[5] Paul Callaghan and Eve Penford-Dennis (2008–2012).[6] The founding directors of Freeplay were Katherine Neil and Marcus Westbury.[7]
History[]
The Freeplay Independent Games Festival began in 2004 as Next Wave Festival's three-day-long Melbourne-based indie games conference 'Free Play', to celebrate independent game development and games culture. Since then, it has run in a variety of formats and venues across Melbourne.
In 2009, Freeplay hosted its first festival away from Next Wave, and rebranded itself from 'Free Play: The Next Wave Independent Game Developers Conference' into 'Freeplay Independent Games Festival'. Since 2009, Freeplay events have generally run annually.
In 2014, inspired by Venus Patrol's alternative E3 press conference Horizon, Freeplay introduced Parallels, a one-night event that serves as a counterpart to the main Freeplay festival. It takes place as part of Melbourne International Games Week, and highlights "unique, experimental, personal, and culturally significant games" made in the region.
In 2015, Freeplay held, for the first time, both a multi-day Freeplay festival (10–19 April 2015) and a Parallels event (24 October 2015).
2020 saw a virtual festival take place on grounds of COVID-19 pandemic.
Freeplay Festival[]
| Date | Theme | Keynote Speaker(s) | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21–23 May 2004[1] | (As part of Next Wave Festival: 'Unpopular Culture') | Harvey Smith | The World Wing Chun Kung Fu Association
3rd Floor, 96 Flinders Street, Melbourne |
| 15–17 July 2005 | Greg Costikyan, Kieron Gillen | Australian Centre for the Moving Image | |
| 18 August 2007 | Jonathan Blow[8] | Australian Centre for the Moving Image | |
| 14–15 August 2009[9] | Petri Purho[10] | State Library Victoria | |
| 14–15 August 2010 | Play Is Everywhere[11] | Brandon Boyer, Adam Saltsman[11] | State Library Victoria |
| 17–21 August 2011[12] | Handmade | No keynote | State Library Victoria |
| 19–23 September 2012[13] | Chaos and Grace[13] | Mare Sheppard, Morgan Jaffit | State Library Victoria |
| 25–29 September 2013[14] | Volume of Revolution[15] | Erin Robinson, Steve Swink | State Library Victoria |
| 10–19 April 2015[16] | Austin Wintory | Australian Centre for the Moving Image | |
| 22–27 May 2018[17] | Intersections[18] | Zuraida Buter, Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn | Australian Centre for the Moving Image |
| 7–12 May 2019[19] | Introspection[20] | Hannah Nicklin, Richard Lemarchand | RMIT University |
Freeplay Parallels[]
| Date | Lineup | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 18 October 2014[21] | Push Me Pull You (House House) |
Australian Centre for the Moving Image |
| 24 October 2015[22] | Knuckle Sandwich (Andrew Brophy) |
Australian Centre for the Moving Image |
| 26 October 2017[23] | Wayward Strand (Ghost Pattern) |
RMIT University |
| 25 October 2018[24] | Rise (Dakoda Barker) |
RMIT University |
| 10 October 2019[25] | Paint Game (Max Myers) |
The Capitol |
Freeplay Awards[]
| Year | Awards[26] |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Best Australian Game: Jolly Rover |
| 2011 | Best Australian Game: Antichamber |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2015 | The Freeplay Award: Push Me Pull You |
| 2018 | The Freeplay Award: The Catacombs of Solaris |
| 2019 | The Freeplay Award: New Ice York |
See also[]
External links[]
References[]
- ^ a b "Free Play: NextWave Independent Game Developer Conference - tsumea". Tsumea.com.
- ^ "About Freeplay". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "A very Freeplay update: New director and suite of events for 2017-18". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Dominguez, James 'DexX' (23 October 2014). "Freeplay, Australia's premier indie games festival, gets a shake-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "INTERVIEW: Katie Williams and Harry Lee, the new directors of the Freeplay Independent Games Festival". Game On. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "More Freeplay coming soon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "The Age Blogs: Screen Play". blogs.theage.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Boyer, Brandon. "Braid 's Blow To Keynote AU Indie Game Conference". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "Your Turn: Freeplay".
- ^ "Playing creatively - Screen Play - Digital Life - Blogs". blogs.theage.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ a b "Freeplay for all". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ "Freeplay 2011 - Handmade". freeplay.net.au.
- ^ a b "Freeplay 2012 - Chaos and Grace".
- ^ "Sessions - Freeplay Independent Games Festival". 2013.freeplay.net.au.
- ^ Pitcher, Jenna (12 September 2013). "Freeplay Independent Games Festival tickets open, keynote speakers announced". Polygon. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "2015 Program - Freeplay". freeplay.net.au.
- ^ "Freeplay 2018 Festival".
- ^ "Freeplay 2018 - Keynotes & Theme Reveal".
- ^ "Freeplay 2019 Festival". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Freeplay 2019 – Keynote & Theme Reveal". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Freeplay Parallels 2014". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Freeplay Parallels 2015". freeplay.net.au.
- ^ "Freeplay Parallels 2017". freeplay.net.au.
- ^ "Freeplay Parallels 2018". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Freeplay Parallels 2019". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "The Freeplay Awards". Freeplay Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- 2004 establishments in Australia
- Festivals established in 2004
- Festivals in Australia
- Festivals in Melbourne
- Indie video games
- Video game culture
- Video game festivals
- Video gaming in Australia