New York Gamers

The game industry is a very small and tight community. Within 5 years of a career, you have connections with just about everyone. This doesn't mean you'll be talking game designs at a coffee shop with Jane McGonigal or Cliff Bleszinski (or maybe you will as developers are a friendly bunch), but it will mean that you are within 2-degrees of separation from these folk.

If anyone could make a Kevin Bacon game with Jane McGonigal, it would be Jane McGonigal

Now that there have been a lot of studio closures and openings across the industry, that has exacerbated the mix. For example, most of the team I worked with at Kaos are now spread across the globe in just about every other studio that exists. And this happened within 6 months. That's extreme networking.

Within New York, that interconnectivity is especially strong. There are many studios in and around the New York area, and we all want the other studios to succeed. Games have not taken off in this city like in Austin, San Fran, LA, Vancouver, or Montreal. But we are here, working to prove that game companies can be very successful here. We will support each other through IGDA and other gatherings to make sure that our talent pool and industry is strong.

With that said, I truly support the endeavors of Avalanche Studios. They quickly filled the gap of triple-A gaming that the fall of Kaos created in this city. And they did it with an attitude of not trying to prove anything except that great games can be made here.

They've gathered a truly talented bunch of developers, and as soon as they announce their project, I will be in the pre-order line.

And it helps that they shoot me messages across Spring St.

That's epic