AUSTIN, Texas — After two years of virtual events, people flooded Austin for South by Southwest (SXSW) on Friday.
The event brought the feeling of new experiences, a familiar one to those who attend SXSW regularly. Indie game developers Andrew Augustin and John Rogeles both started their own game studios, Notion Games and Dapper Dog Digital, respectively.
Augustin started his nearly a decade ago. Rogeles started developing his first game with a friend just before the pandemic started.
"It is not just solely focused on one thing. There's a conglomerate of many different mediums that are out there, and it's just a very fun, entertaining place to be at," Augustin said.
"The premise for 'Bio Gun' is extremely wacky. It's very strange," Rogeles said. "Just seeing people's reactions to it is an incredible feeling. I don't think anything will trump being able to see somebody's reaction in person, and they're being so authentic."
Augustin plans to attend a day or two of SXSW while his publishers host a booth. Rogeles said he won't be able to come to Austin this year for the event. Both talked about the opportunities and exposure SXSW affords them as indie game developers.
"'South By' is huge, which means there's a ton of people there. There's a ton of potential networking opportunities, a ton of connections and you're going to meet people big and small," Rogeles said. "There's nothing like meeting incredible people that can potentially even assist you on your journey. They may have experienced things that you haven't. And learning so much about the industry, especially as an indie dev, is huge because that kind of resource is just so valuable."
"It's a great space to showcase the work to like-minded individuals or fans of video games from around the world," Augustin said. "You get these really personal, in-depth conversations with people."
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: