With the support of SIGNAL and CODE, the Dunedin GameDev Meetup welcomed Tim McKenzie, PhD candidate from the University of Canterbury, for a fireside chat about his Master's research on Addressing Challenges in Video Game Development using Agile Best Practices, on October 6th.
Tim's research included numerous game companies to determine the practice of, and perception of agile game
development in New Zealand.
"The results show that while
studios universally state and perceive that they use the agile framework Scrum and sometimes Kanban, their actual
practices often differ from these frameworks in key areas."
You can watch a version of this very interesting presentation as delivered to the Christchurch Game Dev Meetup here.
Board member of StartUp Dunedin, PC gamer and Gallaway Cook Allan commercial lawyer Wade Pearson shared insights into the legal requirements of starting a game development company on October 21. Two thirds of those attending indicated that they were hoping to start their own games company in the near future, and Wade's talk covered several important topics:
- Advantages of establishing a company structure
- What to consider with potential cofounders
- What advantages different employment structures offer
- The importance of Intellectual Property clauses
- What needs to be considered in your delivery contracts
Wade shared some important tips and tricks, and also gave an indication of what you may be able to outsource and what to do yourself. Wade's insights, expertise and humour were greatly appreciated, as was the hosting and hospitality supplied by Matt Gorman and the Gallaway Cook Allan team.
To keep in touch with future Dunedin GameDev MeetUp events follow them at: https://www.facebook.com/gamedevdunedin
And don't forget the Christchurch GameDev MeetUps. The next one on Nov 5 features Dunedin-based Audio expert Paul Fox:
https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/ChristchurchGameDevelopers/events/273891361/
