There is strength in numbers. This has been proven many times over and it holds true regardless of which community or industry you apply it to. We’re proud to be members of several organizations that represent the various facets of the industry, and more importantly, the people who work in them. We feel that we can contribute to the conversation with our unique insight as a business that touches so many different aspects of game creation and development. We don’t just work on a single platform or in a single genre, our work touches them all so we have a unique perspective on trends and changes in the industry.

Here are the organizations in which our teams participate:

UKIE–The United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment group promotes video game development in that region specifically. As PTW maintains several studios in the UK, membership to this org was a no-brainer. While North America and Japan are likely the most well-known countries for video game development, the United Kingdom has produced its share of popular titles and is home to many up-and-coming development studios. We see our role in UKIE as sharing best practices, learned from years of work in non-UK environments. This can be a tricky business, with many unexpected pitfalls, so if a common obstacle can be avoided by learning from past experience, we’re happy to help.

IGDA–The International Game Developers Association works very similar to the UKIE but has a scope that includes the entire world. Their work is similarly philanthropic, helping to support every aspect of game development, including outreach and career development. Our contribution to the organization is multi-faceted, contributing to the shared knowledge base as a whole and putting people in touch with each other to further the good of the industry as a whole. Our Head of Games Services, Justin Webber is our in-house resource for IGDA, so if you want to chat with him, you can find him at justin.webber@ptw.com

WIG–The Women In Games group provides a venue for non-male voices to be heard in a traditionally male-dominated industry. Their work is about more than simply providing recognition; significant outreach and support is also necessary in creating a more equitable environment for all. Our head of Marketing, Kaley Hurst is one of the WIG Ambassadors and can be reached at Kaley.Hurst@ptw.com

Safe In Our World–Mental health as a concern in the video games industry has been frequently overlooked for decades. The stress of game development, with its notorious ‘crunch time’, on top of everyday difficulties, can lead to ongoing problems. We firmly believe in SIOW’s mission to destigmatize these issues and normalize talking openly and honestly about how mental health affects us all. From the SIDE team, Craig Holahan has taken a role in SIOW and can be reached at Craig.h@side.com

La Guilde du jeu video du Quebec–La Guilde operates in much the same way as does the UKIE, but specifically for game developers in Quebec, Canada. And while our PTW studio is in Montreal, we consider all of Canada within our reach. Patrick Therrien from our Montreal team is heavily involved in La Guilde and can be reached at Patrick.therrien@ptw.com