Gamedev World aims to be a truly global developer conference

Game development conferences are a great way for creators to share information, vision and push the medium just a little bit further, if you can get to them. International travel isn't cheap, immigration authorities are increasingly suspicious, and it's time-consuming, too.

Being organised by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer), Sarah Elmaleh, and a crew of independent and international creators, Gamedev World is a new 'virtual' conference and will be broadcasting free and worldwide in eight different languages. Its inaugural show goes live on June 21st through to June 23rd, and they're looking for speakers. Check out their official page here.

I do hope that Gamedev World takes off in a big way. Events like the Game Developers Conference are all well and good, but any event requiring travel to America is going to exclude people. It's also something that many smaller studios simply cannot afford to commit to. Even with mountains of paperwork proving that you're a dev there for an industry event, there's every chance you'll still not get a visa. Gamesindustry.biz reported on one particularly egregious case, along with Rami Ismail's attempts to highlight the difficulties that getting to GDC presents.

Gamedev World will be remote, but organised. They aim to debut with over thirty speakers, each giving a 20-30 minute presentation followed by a 5-10 minute Q&A session. Ideally, they want scripts in early so that their translators can get the work done in time, as the show will be broadcast with captions in English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and French. Not every major language, but enough to cover most bases.

Originally best known for his twitchy screen-shaking arcade shooters as half of Vlambeer (Luftrauasers, Nuclear Throne), Rami has been busy organising things lately. His other recent project is Meditations, a daily calendar of short game-like experiences, one a day and each from a different creator. The man clearly has some talent for organising crowds of wildly diverse developers - a natural born cat-herder, even. Here's hoping that all goes smoothly for Gamedev World, then.

The conference debuts on June 21st and runs until June 23rd. The organisers are currently seeking speakers, moderators and sponsors, as well as providing a mailing list for those who just want to keep up with the event. You can find all that on the official gamedev.world site here.