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About Us

Our Mission

Biforest is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has operated in the Eugene area, creating events for local game developers and enthusiasts. Starting from small gatherings in 2008, and growing into the larger community that exists today, we aim to keep building community connections between innovators, digital creators, those wishing to learn and teach, and the wider community; both locally to this corner of Oregon, and beyond.

Several events that bitforest has hosted range from small low pressure social events like the Wednesday morning coffee meetups, to epic multi day conventions such as Indie Game Con. Bitforest also has a strong interest in skill building for community members, and has regularly offered educational events focused on coding, art, and audio engineering, as well as panels to hear from game industry veterans. Bitforest also participates regularly in game jams such as Global Game Jam, and Ludum Dare.

Moving forward, this organization aims to offer more programs and opportunities for the community to learn and thrive in the unique game developer climate that Eugene has to offer.

History of Bitforest

The southern Willamette valley has had a decades long history as both a general innovation and arts community hub. Since the mid 1980s it has also had a large video game development footprint due to the early studio Dynamix and subsequent game studios that were built from its teams in its aftermath.

With the closure of Garage Games in the 2008/2009 era, our members took to having regular “First Wednesday Pizza Game Jams.” This established the tradition of building a larger community meta to our individual studios: allowing our laid off workers to keep contact with their still-employed colleagues, both to maintain that community and to keep apprised of new opportunities.

Soon after, LCC and UofO faculty began sending students our way to help them get prepared to apply for work with the growing number of studios that weren’t closed or closing. From there, Michael Jones and Ted Brown - along with other core team - organized our first game jams and Indie Game Con as a way of keeping our students and Indie developers involved with the innovation and latest tools used by our larger studios, bettering their ability to enter the local industry.

Bitforest intends to keep building connections in our area and regionally through our main project IndieGameCon, which occurs yearly, as well as other programs and partnerships that help our community, digital artisans, and innovators connect. With 2021 seeming to offer light at the end of the proverbial tunnel on resuming in person events, our team aims to continue creating more online opportunities to connect while resuming in-person Game Jams, and other events.