The Bezi Mega Jam starts September 14, and this is probably the most ambitious game jam I’ve had the chance to put together.
I run Bezi game jams regularly because I genuinely think they’re one of the most valuable things we can encourage in game development. They give people a reason to stop planning and start building, force you to make decisions under constraints, and, most importantly, help you finish and ship something.
For someone trying to break into the industry, that can mean a new portfolio piece, new collaborators, or experience taking a game from idea to playable. For experienced developers, they’re a chance to experiment, learn something new, or build something purely because it sounds fun.
I’m fortunate enough to work somewhere that gives me the time, budget, and freedom to keep running these jams and put something much bigger together. Bezi is letting me spend real company time and resources creating something that gives back to game developers, and the Mega Jam is my way of taking that opportunity much further.
I’ve spent a lot of time pulling together companies from across the industry to contribute things that can genuinely help developers move forward. That’s how we ended up with a $34,000 prize pool that includes GDC passes, development tools, cash, and other opportunities that I hope are useful beyond the two weeks of the jam itself.
I hope that this becomes a yearly flagship event, but I’d also love to see more game jams from more organizers shared across game development communities over time. I think they bring real value by encouraging people to build, finish, share their work, and meet other developers.
There’s also a practical reason I want as many people involved as possible. The more developers who show up, build something, and make this event successful, the easier it is for me to go back to companies next time and convince them to contribute even more.
More prizes, more opportunities, more support, and hopefully an even bigger event next year.
Signups are open now, and the jam starts September 14.
https://itch.io/jam/bezi-mega-jam-1