Global Game Jam (GGJ), the world’s largest game development marathon, was held this year with the participation of 20 thousand game developers from 100 different countries. The Istanbul leg of GGJ, which continues for 48 hours with physical and online participation, was held at Bahçeşehir University Galata Campus again this year.
GGJ Istanbul 2022, which took place with physical and online participation within the scope of pandemic measures, was organized on January 21-23 with the main sponsorship of Peak Games, in cooperation with BUG Lab and ÜNOG Game Developer Community. After the competition theme was announced as “Duality”, the GGJ Istanbul 2022 marathon started. Participants formed their teams and prepared drafts for the games on the first day of the competition, which continued for 48 hours without interruption. Gamers started developing their games in line with the art, design and coding components on the second day. After the competition that continued throughout the night, the games produced were tested, and when 48 hours were completed, the contestants presented their games.
“We Will Provide More Support to Projects with KOSGEB TEKMER Support”
The opening speeches before the event started with the Founding Director of ÜNOG, Sercan Muhlacı. Explaining the rules of Global Game Jam, Muhlacı emphasized the value of being open to experiments, meeting new people and having fun while playing games during this 48-hour marathon. Then BUG Lab founding director Dr. Güven Çatak shared his experiences about GGJ Istanbul, which left its 10th anniversary behind, with the competitors, hosted by BUG Lab. Çatak also explained that with the title of Technology Center (TEKMER), which was won by receiving KOSGEB TEKMER support, which BUG Lab applied for with its project aiming to unite the game industry and entrepreneurs this year, more professional support will be given to GGJ Istanbul, its teams and their projects. Lastly, Levent Seçkin, who works as a Lead Software Engineer at Peak Games, talked about the game production process and shared success stories that will inspire the competitors. Then, they offered the games they produced to the access of all game lovers on the globalgamejam.org site.