A recap on BitSummit 

The VicScreen BitSummit delegation

Alongside nine other VicScreen-supported delegates, Clownbaby game developer Lauren T, aka T-Dog eXtreme, travelled to Kyoto, Japan for four jam-packed days at BitSummit. With industry leading platform holders and publishers like Sony, Nintendo, and Devolver Digital in attendance, indie game developers were able to connect with potential partners and showcase their unique new projects to the world. Lauren recaps on their whirlwind festival experience below.

Did you have any overarching goals for BitSummit this year?
I didn’t know too much about BitSummit going in, other than other developers who told me it was a great event. My overall aim during the conference – BitSummit runs for three days, one business day and two days where the show floor is open to the general public – was to get a sense of the global indie games scene, and to meet other Studio Owners and Game Designers to talk shop with. 

While each day was incredibly busy, I found it easy to meet people and have engaging conversations. Overall, I ended up meeting developers from all over the world, including Taiwan, America, New Zealand, and, ironically, Australia!

Why is it important to have opportunities for travel funding through agencies like VicScreen? 
Running my own small studio means I wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to travel to Japan for this conference. As an Indie Dev, there’s an immense amount of pressure and stress you feel when hearing about other people attending a conference you can’t afford.

You start questioning what opportunities you might be missing out on, who was important that could’ve seen your game, and even sharing connections with fellow local devs during a huge trip. It makes you feel like you’re behind!

There is an immense amount of value in being able to travel through agencies like VicScreen. Just having the chance to go out and get a sense of what the event brings is huge. Now there’s a reference point and you’re able to assess the value the event brings to you and your project. You’re no longer behind, you’re a part of the conversation.

BitSummit is starting to feel much more like the new GDC, too. There’s a huge array of indie games to play, fellow devs to chat to, and even publishers to have meetings with. Even if it is smaller in scale, it’s not something you notice. There’s also the added element of the event feeling much more accessible and safe compared to GDC. I didn’t have to attend a talk about street safety for BitSummit, and that’s absolutely huge! 

VicScreen doesn't just offer the funds, but also offered a lot of great advice and the chance to connect with local developers. Events like BitSummit can be very intense and overwhelming, so having a clear avenue for advice, community, and support was so incredibly valuable. I really can’t overstate how accommodating the VicScreen team have been, and how friendly and open the other delegates have been as well. 

How does attending a festival like BitSummit help your career/studio/game development?
I get the opportunity to meet a range of like-minded folks from around the world and in my local community who might not necessarily attend all the events I would. This event effectively helps me to stop siloing myself or getting stuck in a specific perspective that may be unwittingly perpetuated by my local community.

There’s a range of ways people tackle problems, and going to BitSummit allows you to learn what those are.

After attending, I have a whole range of devs I can keep in touch with and chat to about anything from a game design problem to how things are going! 

What kinds of games are people making at the moment? Both tonally and mechanically.
Around the world, we are seeing an uptick of HORROR. And while they were all fun to play, it was certainly a reminder of our collective need to express our dismay at the state of the world.

From Australia, to New Zealand, to America, and back to Japan, there was horror. Particularly of note was the use of a Resident Evil fixed camera style from oceanic games. I’m thinking specifically of The Florist, and Janet DeMornay is a Slumlord (and a Witch). There’s a real sense of isolation, frustration, and tension across these games. That they’re a product of the times we live in. They were probably my favorite to play because as a player, you feel heard. There’s a shared experience between developer and player in these horror games. It’s cathartic.  

Many other games that weren't necessarily horror still had grim undertones and themes. There was a Canadian platformer, City of None, which had an intro of having your soul split into pieces. It was a gorgeous game, but even in spite of it not being horror, that sense of dismay felt strong.

But then there was the contrast of something between satirical and silly. Grim VS Whimsy was definitely a highlight to bear witness to. You would go from a game like No, I’m Not Human, where horrific creatures hide behind a physical door as part of the setup you have to open, to playing as a Record Seller in Wax Heads. You’ve got to deal with teenagers who have no idea what they’re talking about, or elderly queer customers trying to remember the saxophone record they listened to with their late love.

I would like to note as well that there were also quite a few games that were inspired by Japanese culture despite not being made by Japanese people. It was interesting to me because I feel that this is something we simply wouldn’t do as indie devs in Australia. We'd tend to make things that are familiar to our own experiences as opposed to making something based on what we like in the context of a different culture. Part of this is to ensure we don’t misrepresent something, but the other big part is because our own experiences offer so much depth when creating an experience. 

There were quite a few instances of this, especially crucial components of the culture getting lost because it was created with an outsiders’ perspective.

What is the developer/publisher negotiating experience like?
A lot of my anecdotes from BitSummit are second-hand, so take elements of what I say with a grain of salt. 

To start with, industry-wide the deals with publishers aren’t the greatest for developers. They often favour publishers considerably when it comes to recoup. This is something we’ve been dealing with for a while now. But the next issue arises where it can be difficult finding publishers you click with.

Many of my meetups with other developers I found they were extremely exhausted from pitching to publishers who were erring on the side of dismissive rather than kind. Often inserting design opinions to developers who were quite experienced, or not actively listening during meetings. In other instances, they would be quite callous about a game’s theming, labelling it as a copy of another game or derivative. And while brutal honesty can be helpful in many instances, if a game is mostly done and the character designs are all complete, the reality is it’s a bit of salt in a wound that can no longer close. 

The difficulty as well is many of the developers I spoke to were not in the position of declining opportunities for funding, regardless of how well they clicked with potential funders. Meaning they just had to deal with the rudeness and negativity if they want to get their game out. And that’s really sad.

How is the job market looking for indie studios?
It's grim out there, gang.

I had a few people reject meeting me because they assumed I would be asking for work and they had no interest in adding people to the team. The bluntness of that was a bit of a shock, particularly in contrast to those who treated the meeting like a bit of respite between pitching, but it's also a sign of how strained things are. 

The unifier for all of us globally is this persistent sense of exhaustion. Most of the studios I spoke to lacked the funds to bring other people on, and were doing the most they could to find additional avenues of funding. Even in inexperience their priority was to rely on each other rather than seek external expertise due to the limited nature of their funding. You could really get a sense of the difficulties they were experiencing. In a lot of instances, they had clear room for improvement on the titles but really lacked the wiggle room to make those changes.

You could sense the difficulty of navigating the trials of game development particularly in the instances of studios who were making their first games. And that was at least 50% of the people I spoke to.

It's really great these games are being made, but it's sad to see the duress. These studios were doing a lot in spite of limitation. And while it’s grim to think about things like the job market, it’s quite meaningful to think about the amount of effort and love people will pour out for the sake of their art. The level of drive people have to make something what really inspiring, and I really hope we get to see all these games come out. 

BitSummit delegation

Which games stood out the most, both in terms of the publisher names behind them, but also the crowds drawn to them?
As an Australian, obviously the Australian and New Zealand games. We’re quite good. We’re very hard to ignore because of how good we are.

But let’s take the hat of ego off for a moment. Let’s consider walking into BitSummit for the first time. What grabs your attention? The blatant, big, and brightly coloured mascots walking around the venue, surely!

They had merch they were handing out, and I can’t understate that these mascot costumes were immaculate. The merch wasn’t cheap merch by any means, either. They were handing out beautiful 3D stickers, omamori (traditional Japanese protective amulets and good luck charms), and well-made showbags. Thick and sturdy, none of this blowing away in the wind nonsense.

How are you to walk into this great crowded space, filled with brightly coloured games and loud noises, and ignore the massive dinosaur creature with the cute face handing you a 1m x 2m bag with its face on it? You can’t! 

That meant from what I can glean from my foray into the crowds, Pal World and Tanuki: Pon’s Summer seemed like stand outs. The publisher Critical Reflex was massive. You couldn’t get away from their merch or the sheer size and structure of their booths. It often felt like walking into an interactive art installation than an exhibit at a convention. 

But remember that BitSummit was absolutely massive. There’s a significant chance another attendee came out with a completely different perspective! 

And lastly, how are Australian games currently seen in the games industry both by peers and by players? 
From folks I spoke to, it appears that Australia is seen as having some very unique and out-there games of high quality. In a complimentary way, the phrase "weird" was used frequently. We're seen as a talented crew of people with the capacity to make some incredibly influential titles. 

You also get a pretty strong sense of envy from developers across the world on our means of funding in Australia. Quick shoutout of condolences to all the US developers I met. We really have to remember that we have some brilliant funding over here. Even in Europe, a continent with pretty progressive collection of countries, a lot of their government funding still asks for a level of recoup. 

We're incredibly lucky over here to get the funding we do, even for things like travelling to BitSummit. I feel that when we get stuck in our echo chambers it can be really easy to forget that. Not to say that there isn’t room for improvement, but more that we really are afforded a great amount of opportunities here that can help uplift us in some pretty dire times.

And it's clear we have a great means to foster talent because of it. Talking to developers from around the world about Australia does give us a sense of gratitude. For all the AAA studios other countries might have, we make up for it in our ability to help uplift indies, and that's really wonderful. 

What was it like being part of the Victorian delegation for BitSummit 2026? 
If you’ve seen any of the games from the Victorian delegation, you would understand what a compliment it is to be lumped in with the group. I felt so incredibly lucky!

The Victorian crew are a really wonderful bunch of people, so having a delegation that are easy to chat to and rely on made the event so much more accessible and delightful. Genuinely, my only issue was not being able to hang out with them more, and this was due to the intensity of the event. The times we did get to hang out as a crew were brilliant!

I’d love to stay in touch with the delegates and connect with game devs from Melbourne more. Everyone has their specific ways they connect with the games scene, and for some folks it means they may not be going to meet ups like IGDAM or DevTogether. This meant I met people I hadn’t even known were around who were making some brilliant games!

It was nice to see more of the community that I usually wouldn't and it's really driving me to continue being part of it. Victoria actually has some sick gamedevs, hey. 

Learn more about VicScreen’s digital games incentives here and international travel funding here.