GameDev Market has just launched the full ‘beta’ version of its site, with 
almost 2000 members already signed up to the community site during their ‘alpha’ pre launch.
A small team of aspiring game developers have looked to exploit what they see as a gap in the global Indie Game Dev scene. Frustrated by the lack of community and quality assets available for ‘new to the industry’ aspiring developers, brothers Adam and Liam McElroy set about researching whether this was an issue for others in the community.
“We used Twitter to reach out globally as well as visiting indie game devs, small studios and content creators to see if other people felt the same about the current options for game ready assets. We were overwhelmed by the response and many people commented on the inconsistency and lack of
quality in many of the assets currently available.”
Quality Assets
The site launched with its almost 2000 strong prelaunch member group and with 100’s of assets submitted, Liam McElroy, in charge of quality control as well as software development said, “We have a real commitment to quality so not all of the assets submitted have made it through, we have been working with industry professionals from the area to make sure we are hitting the right notes when it comes to quality. This has been especially true with 3D and music.”
Nick Davies co-founder of respected studio Lucid Games, formed by former employees of Bizarre Creations, commented, “We are looking forward to seeing what will happen with the site, the team definitely seem to have been working with the right people locally and online in 3D, 2D and music to give it a good chance of success. We have already listed some assets and if the sales figures are right, we will be interested in incorporating listing assets into our process of finishing titles.”
Game Dev Community
GDM would like to be more than just a marketplace. The founders say their aim is a community in which indie developers can help each other. To incentivise this kind of interaction they have developed an XP system, whereby making a positive contribution to the marketplace and community earns members XP. Whether that’s buying or selling assets, writing reviews, creating assets to meet the needs of the community or helping someone out on the forums, members can boost themselves up the XP levels quicker. The team at GDM ensure us they have some exciting plans around the levelling up system to be announced in the coming months.
Vinny Parisi, Editor-in-Chief of Indie Game Magazine said, "The vision for GameDev Market appealed to me the moment I heard about it. A quality controlled, community-driven ecosystem is exactly what development teams need to create better experiences, and improve the indie sector as a whole. With GDM, we can come together as a community and resolve longstanding issues of misinformation and erratic quality.”
For more information or to join GameDev Market visit www.gamedevmarket.net, follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gameresources and join them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gamedevmarket.
