Taking Victoria’s buzzing indie games scene global

VicScreen wanted to shine a spotlight on Victoria’s vibrant independent game scene and establish the state as Australia’s game development capital. With the state home to over 170 developers and 57 per cent of the country’s game development talent, our challenge was to showcase this thriving ecosystem to the world.

Our goal was to organise an event that not only celebrated local game developers but also attracted media attention and industry recognition.

In August 2022, we invited journalists from around Australia to Thornbury, and the HQ of PaperHouse studios where developers from six local studios got the chance to interact with journalists directly, showcasing playable demos of their upcoming projects.

The timing was perfect, coinciding with the launch of Cult of the Lamb by Melbourne’s own Massive Monster, which would become a global indie sensation.

The result was that major media outlets including The Age, The Project, Herald Sun, The Guardian, Kotaku, and GamesHub left buzzing about Victoria’s game development prowess.

The resulting press coverage focused not just on the success of one game, but on the overall strength of the local industry and the highlighted developers’ works, which were all made possible through significant support from VicScreen.