| GDC Relief Fundraiser
With the news of GDC's official cancellation, many marginalized developers were facing the reality that they invested what sometimes comes down to years of savings into an event that would no longer happen. Developers around the world did not have a way to refund their visas, lodging, and travel costs. Many worried that they did not just lose the opportunity of attending the 2020 conference, but also the possibility to re-route the funds spent to other opportunities throughout the year. Other developers got stuck abroad due to lockdowns or flight cancellations, incurring hefty fees as they have to pay for lodging for an indefinite amount of time.
In response, gamedev.world announced a week-long public fundraising effort in collaboration with 
itch.io, starting March 27th until April 3rd. The event kicked off with #reliefjam: a game-jam, from March 27th-30th during which developers created new work, and added any creative work that they have previously created to a bundle of 170+ creative works donated by over 100 developers. From March 30th until April 1st, there was a livestreamed event promoting sale of this Relief Bundle full of games, assets, prototypes, and other creative work as a Pay-What-You-Want offering, and this bundle would stay available until April 3rd.
All $81,636.13 raised went to the GDC Relief Fund spearheaded by WINGS.
Japan-born Finnish composer and singer-songwriter Jukio Kallio's music leaps between intimate minimal pop, to life affirming piano compositions, and diverse world-building soundtracks.
Widely recognized for his distinct sound in interactive media and indie videogames, Jukio weaves a melancholic yet hopeful aesthetic into his highly prolific personal work.
Darren Korb is the award winning Composer and Audio Director for Supergiant Games, whose titles include Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, and currently, Hades.
Erin Yvette is a voice actress known for being your good bud in games like The Walking Dead, the Wolf Among Us & Oxenfree, and also for speaking loudly in games like Fortnite, Magic The Gathering Arena, & RAD.
Erika can be heard as Ana Bray in Destiny 2 and Amanda in Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Sim, with roles in Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative, Sailor Moon SuperS, and more. Erika has acted and hosted with numerous channels including Geek & Sundry, Critical Role, & Dimension20.
Jennifer Hale has done several hundred cartoon episodes and a couple hundred video games as well as the occasional film or TV project and holds a Guinness World Record for a female performer in games. The New Yorker called her “a kind of Meryl Streep of the medium”. Jennifer loves the art form and the people in it.
JP Karliak is Netflix’s Boss Baby & Kozo Fuyutsuki and has voiced the Tin Man, Wile E. Coyote, Willy Wonka, and several Marvel characters. He is Rex Dangervest in The Lego Movie 2 Videogame & Wolfgang in Skylanders. JP is also a co-founder of voter registration org @nerdsvote.
Cissy Jones is an award-winning voice actress, known for video games, animation, and everything in between. You probably don't realize it, but you've romanced her in Firewatch, helped her survive in The Walking Dead, and most likely stole her car in GTAV. Thanks a lot.
Ashly Burch is a writer, actor, and has successfully planted all but one type of fruit tree on her Animal Crossing island.
Voice actor best known for Gone Home, Anthem, and Gears 5 - sometime VO director and consultant, labor advocate, and event organizer. Co-founder of gamedev.world.
Aura is a variety virtual streamer on Twitch focusing on fun games, new and retro, and a nice hangout-style chat atmosphere.
Alex Zandra writes and illustrates wholesome light novels about queer characters figuring themselves out via transformative adventures. She's also a streamer, public speaker, speedrunner, and has been making games for over 20 years!
Austin Wintory is professionally curious about music and games. Composer for Journey, ABZU, The Banner Saga trilogy, AC Syndicate, Erica and the upcoming Pathless and Chorus.
Myriame Lachapelle is a games producer and project manager with a history in community management and photography. She is a passionate industry advocate and has been involved in many grassroots initiatives to improve awareness of mental health and employment rights. She has an improbable range of Twitter bots, and enjoys good coffee, good dogs, and her good cats.
Rami Ismail is 50% of Vlambeer, an award-winning game developer, the creator of presskit(), curator of Meditations, executive director of gamedev.world, an outspoken advocate for game development in emergent territories around the world, a public speaker on all things independent game development, and the recipient of the 2018 GDC Ambassador Award. He likes making games, and helping others make games, too.
Jonah Davidson is a technical writer, game designer, fixer, and co-organizer for Dirty Rectangles, a Canadian game dev collective. He wants to see what cool stuff you're making, and wants to help you make it.
Computer and video game historian at New York University.
Music guy for FTL, Into the Breach, Darkside Detective, Subnautica: Below Zero, & others. I did not work on Subnautica 1. Polyamorous, ADHD, cat dad, he/him.