Archiving gd.ie
As of early 2024 we have started the process of archiving gd.ie
While the site remains up, we would direct you to Imirt for up to date news and information on the Irish games scene.
If you are interested or an expert in archiving do get in touch.
More in a bit.
We are a volunteer run project that exists to help local game developers both inside and outside of the industry to network, communicate and publicise their work.
We publish a range of information, including news, jobs, research and reports on the local industry.
We work with local companies, indies, freelancers, academics, students and others to advertise jobs based on the island of Ireland, to post news and to support the local game development community. We do this for free for small to medium sized companies.
Launched in 2003, in 2014 the site was redesigned to take audiovisual content and integrate with social media. You are now visiting version 3 of the site, which is still in development.
We receive some financial assistance from local companies and in return we are happy to display their logo and to partner with them to run events. From 2007 – 2014 Demonware were our headline sponsor and provided financial assistance to support the work of gamedevelopers.ie. Prior to that we had headline support from 02 and Nokia. Other companies have previously been involved in sponsoring awards and prizes. Throughout this time first Dublin City University and then Maynooth University have provided institutional support and academics in other institutions like Dublin Institute of Technology and LIT Thurles have provided support. This support has meant that we do not have to take advertising or sponsored content. We also do not sell on user data or our databases to third parties.
Want to get involved? You can.
Anyone can get involved, anyone can send in content, anyone can attend our events. If you would like to write something for us just get in touch. You can use news@gamedevelopers.ie, jobs@gamedevelopers.ie or info@gamedevelopers.ie
Since we are volunteers please allow a few days for a response.
We are a friendly lot but we will not accept sexism, racism or any other offensive language or behaviour on our channels. We support increasing diversity in workplace and play cultures and critical engagement with existing cultures.
We organise informal meetups occasionally called ‘shindigs’ in various establishments around Dublin and we partner and support other local groups doing the same. Keep an eye on our events calendar for these events.
Version 3 – Redesign by Volunteers – 2014-
In the summer of 2014 the site faced some security issues and it was clear that the technology and design needed to be updated. Further the growth of social media and the decline of forums signalled that we needed to rethink our communication tools. Again local volunteers stepped forward and while the site is still being finalised throughout 2014/15 the site moved to a new server provider and all the old content was ported over. A new wordpress based front end was developed and our forums were archived. The site has now stabilised and continues to attract considerable traffic. In 2015 we added two new social media channels – @gamedev_ie on Twitter and gd.ie on Facebook. Throughout 2016 we will bring back online old archived content in a fully searchable format.
We also have a new set of volunteers who work away in the background. Happy to have more or to have more contributors of content.
Contact us on info@gamedevelopers.ie if you want to get involved or submit content via the form on the site.
GameDevelopers.ie Site V3 Volunteer team
Aphra Kerr, Senior Lecturer, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare – @aphrak
Darren Heffernan, developer, Limerick – @dreinzy on Twitter and dreinzy [at] gmail.com
Joshua D. Savage, researcher, writer, Maynooth, Co. Kildare
Jack Gallagher, Mobile Developer, Dublin
Agustin Juarez, Dublin
Jamie McCormick, marketing, communications and researcher, Dublin
JP Vaughan, the Netherlands –
Pavel Barter, freelance journalist, Dublin/Belfast.
Mark Aherne, indie developer, Galway.
Ivan McCloskey, developer, Ireland/UK.
Paul Conway, artist, freelance, in the West!
Siobhan Schnittger, designer, Dublin.
Katarina Vesikko, student and researcher, Helsinki, Finland.
Basil Lim, designer, bitSmith, Dublin and Pulse College.
Get involved? Just let us know – even a few hours can help.
Version 2 – Redesigned by Volunteers – 2005-2014
Some of the same people as above but the design and tech was done by:
Ian Hannigan. Site design and layout, version 2. Ian Hannigan is a game designer with experience in Ireland, the UK and Germany.
Dave Kearney. Site development and programming, version 2. Dave Kearney is a software developer based in Dublin. His home on the web can be found at: http://www.dkearney.com/
GameDevelopers.ie V2 Forum Moderators:
Aphra Kerr, Senior Lecturer, Maynooth University, Co. Kildare.
Damian Furlong, game programmer. His handle on our forums is omen.
Mark Aherne, indie developer, Dublin/Galway. His handle on our forums is Faerdan.
John Molloy, game designer, UK. His handle on our forums is nifty. See www.splashdamage.com
Version 2 of site
Version 1 – University Project – Launch 2003
The idea for GameDevelopers.ie emerged from a 2001/02 government funded research project on the digital games industry conducted by Dr. Aphra Kerr, while working at the Centre for Society, Technology and Media, School of Communications, at Dublin City University.
Financial assistance from 02 and Nokia, and creative input from John Lynch and Paul May, then two multimedia students in DCU, brought the idea to fruition. The site was launched in April 2003 in the Guinness Storehouse and since then has become a networking and information resource for the Irish game development community.
We had a lot of volunteers helping out and writing for us over the years and we will expand this section in time with all their names! Thanks to everyone to date.
Above: a screenshot of the site from year one.