Developer sessions, industry mixers and resume reviews pack out four days of programming at the new haven for game makers in a heritage Collingwood warehouse.
MASS, the new co-working space for independent game developers in Collingwood, has been announced as the third official hub for Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW), opening its doors to industry creatives for the first time with four days of programming from 6–9 October.
Built by Massive Monster, the award-winning studio behind Cult of the Lamb, and backed by a $2 million investment by the Victorian Government and delivered in partnership with VicScreen, the heritage Collingwood warehouse will host local and international developers behind games including Skate Story, The Drifter and Cult of the Lamb.
MASS joins ACMI & Fed Square and MCEC & South Wharf as a home base for the festival when it returns this October with events that centre on growing and developing local, independent game developers and studios. MASS’ programming includes a full day of industry talks, a launch party, a resume review and industry mixer with IGDA Foundation, and daily open house sessions for visiting developers.
Julian Wilton, creative director at MASS and Massive Monster, said the hub announcement reflects the core of their mission.
“MASS was built for creation. Games Week lets us bring our favourite creators together in a space made for them, in the heart of Collingwood - everything we love about Melbourne in one room.”
Massive Monster developed part of Cult of the Lamb while in residence at ACMI X, ACMI's creative co-working space, before the game's release in 2022 sold more than five million copies worldwide. MASS’ own manifesto traces a direct line from that period, describing its mission as building “a critical mass for independent game developers in Melbourne, bringing together the best studios and emerging talent under one roof”.
Luke Lancaster, Head of Melbourne International Games Week, said MASS is giving back to an industry, and a city, that supported them.
“A festival this size needs input from the people actually making games and who understand the unique challenges facing the industry in Australia. A studio that made it in Melbourne, with the Victorian Government backing the work, is now handing a space and a program back to the community that helped get it there. It's exactly the kind of developer-led content we want at the centre of Games Week.”