A New Direction for the DIA Game Studio

DIA Design Guild Staff -

It's been awhile

Hello gamers, the DIA Game Studio is back and with some breaking news!

Something... Has... Changed! Source: Giphy.

But before we get into all that, some updates!

What the Game Studio's been up to

It's been awhile since we last showed everyone what we were up to. The last post we made was in... March 2022?!

Wow, time sure flies, huh? Source: Giphy.

To quickly recap:

  • We last had some work-in-progress projects going on.
  • With folks becoming busy and priorities being shifted, we put our projects on hold.
  • Later on, some of us (namely Justin Kim and Alex Forseth) started doing weekly coworking sessions to keep each other accountable while working on personal projects.

Results from the 2022 Retro

Once 2022 was over, we reflected on everything we did and what we could do next. Our goal was to make sense of our experiences and grow from them.

What went well

We're all about celebrating our wins here at the club. Source: Giphy.

Productivity

Our weekly and flexible schedule helped us be productive and kept us accountable.

Feedback and iteration

Getting feedback and support from others was great for learning and improving our projects.

Co-learning

Learning with someone else gave us opportunities to swap resources and feel less lonely.

Making friends

It felt really nice to talk with our fellow gamers about a mutual interest. Plus, we got to know each other better!

What to improve on

Lots of lessons to be had. Source: Giphy.

Game maker's block

There was a lot of uncertainty involved with how we managed our projects. Was starting with a game design document the right way to go? Were the tasks we did actually meaningful or just busy work?

Growing pains

Like every teenager, we had our own share of existential problems. The studio wasn't sure of what it was nor did it explain what it was meant to do very well.

Recruitment issues

We're all about transparency here at DIA, so we'll be honest: Not a whole lot of people stuck around. :(

What to continue doing

Culture/Social dynamics

Absolutely, 100%, we wanted to keep doing coworking sessions. This casual meet-up format turned out to be much more rewarding than expected.

Culture/Collaboration

Sharing resources and feedback and learning with each other was essential to the studio's new windfall and growing culture. We definitely wanted to keep this in.

What to do next

So many directions to go! So little time. Source: Giphy.

There were a lot of things we wanted to try out. The the most exciting ones included:

  • Formal, organized game jams to encourage game making.
  • Advertising the studio on social media to attract more friends.
  • Group gaming sessions. For- Uh- Research purposes...
  • Changing the Studio name.

That last one is very important.

The problem with names

Eventually, we agreed that "Game Studio" didn't reflect who we were anymore.

Who is that club we see?~ Source: Giphy.

It created a different image than we intended and felt too limiting since we always had people ask if it was alright to do game-adjacent things instead.

What? DIA Game Studio is evolving!

No additional Gameboys required. Source: Giphy.

Congratulations, DIA Game Studio evolved into DIA Game Club! Insert fanfare here.

Pokémon joke aside, the Game Club name change is important for the following reasons:

  • "Club" is inclusive enough to help non-game makers feel welcome.
  • The new name removes the expectation that we only make games.
  • It communicates that we're a community who make games or game-related things.

For current club members, it's relieving to not have an identity crisis anymore. We're now much more confident in who we are and what we want to achieve. New year, new us!

The club's plans moving forward

You may be wondering what's next for the DIA Game Club.

While we're still taking our first steps, one thing we're currently working on is a new game jam format that's customized for the club's needs. Keep your eyes out for updates!

A quick catch...

One more thing that needs to be said: As of now, membership to the Game Club is on hold.

It's-a-not you... It's-a-me. 😭 Source: Giphy.

I know, I know, we were all gung-ho about helping everyone get into making games just a couple of months ago. :'( But for now we want to at least iron out the bugs and kinks with a smaller group of people we know first before opening up to the public again.

For now, only DIA-approved folks are eligible to join. But know that this rule is subject to change in the future and that we're forever thankful for your patience.

Exciting new horizons to explore

Link can't speak so we won't say anything either. Source: Giphy.

We here at the club are thrilled with the new changes and look forward to what comes next.

For any additional updates be sure to subscribe to DIA's newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn. Thanks for reading!