To IGDX 2022 and Beyond: What I Learned from My First Game Developer Conference 

I was excited as I was eager to learn many things by meeting people in the industry. Also, who doesn’t want to go to Bali? 

But I was nervous and didn’t really know what to do. After all, I have to admit that this was my first conference as a game developer.

Unfortunately, there was a little hurdle on my first day: information about the business meeting was sent to my team leader, even though the one who represented the studio was me. A slight misunderstanding but I almost missed the entire first day because I thought I had no schedule. Luckily, the organizer helped me. Kudos to them, especially mas Dhani, mas Krisna, and mbak Evi. 

Other than that, the rest 3-day event was smooth sailing. I’m not really into formal business meetings, but I understand the importance. Most of the productive business meetings were the ones where Algorocks already had some kind of relationship, like the one we were already acquainted with on Twitter or Instagram. Some of them also wanted to meet Adib, since they had known him before. 

But the real place to communicate and learn was actually outside the meeting hall, places like the lobby, restaurant, and, surprisingly, Mushalla (Mosque). It was where we could have informal talks and freely share our experience developing our games. I’m really thankful to the guys from Mythic Protocol who shared their experience using Facebook ads to do market testing. I’ve read something similar before, but after hearing how it works for them, I’m eager to try it. Other good advice also came from Puspa (Pendopo Games) who stressed how important it is to just “grind” on social media. Seeing how her games could gather many Steam wishlists simply by using Twitter, I think her argument held ground here. 

Also, I was able to enter Mojiken’s secret playtest room, which was fantastic. Maybe we should make our own secret room next con. 

I had a lot of fun at the event. The event was great, the foods were amazing, and more importantly, I met new friends. The most important takeaway from this event, i think, was not the learning part but the opportunity to meet and make friends. I met many people whom I only knew from social media or Discord. I met new people who had the same struggle as I did. Surrounding yourself with people who also know your struggle is enlightening. We may work in the same field but our experiences could be different. I should’ve taken many photos there as they were just fun.

4 days in Bali, and I spent most of it at the conference. No, I didn’t even have time to visit any touristy spots because I felt too tired in my free time. I did visit a souvenir shop on the last day and Kuta beach for about 10 minutes before going back to Malang, though. Maybe I should schedule a visit to tourism spots in the next IGDX? 

Either way, looking forward to my next con!