Hello all,

I am an American from Utah currently living in Vietnam. My family is going to move to the USA in 2013 and we are considering where to move. I want to move somewhere where I can be a part of the game dev community (if such a thing exists in a given geographic location). I have considered moving to LA or San Fran (the valley), but I wonder if moving there would really allow me to meet dedicated, independant game developers like myself, or if moving to any podunk town would be functionally equivalent and much cheaper.

If anyone knows of a good place to hook up with really dedicated game devvers, could you let me know. I also want to get your opinions on the wisdom of choosing a place to live based on the prospect of forming Indie game teams. I'm very serious about this, and if it is possible or probably I will go ahead and give it a try. I am very, very mobile, so there is really no risk of getting stuck somewhere I don't want to be, rather I want to take all possible opportunities to be a part of whatever game devving community exists, if possible.

I have a few friends that are moving to Utah at the same time, and if I decide not to move to Cali (or any other great game devving place in the USA), then I'll move with them back to Utah. So please consider that as the alternative.

Best,

Dave Ottley

I want to move somewhere where I can be a part of the game dev community

When I got really into programming I wanted to meet people in real life who had the same passion, despite being very social and outgoing it was almost impossible even in London, everyone seems to be a lawyer / doctor / accountant these days :/, I never went to any gaming conventions or anything but I would assume you would have more luck finding people with similar interests there, although it would be cool having a bar strictly for programmers

It is really sad to me that nobody has any thoughts on this. I guess there really is no physical location where game developers "are."

Ohhh yes there is.


http://www.gamedevmap.com/

You want to be where the professional companies. Many of the independents started working in a company before going solo. Also, you can network with pros in IGDA events, local mixers, and such. So I second gamedevmap and add gameindustrymap.

I would vote Austin personally. SF and LA both have really high cost of living.by comparison and Austin always seemed pretty cool to me. Despite being in Texas it always seemed fairly liberal.

I am an American from Utah currently living in Vietnam.

At first I read that and thought "We have a city named Vietnam?" I get it now

What part of Utah are your from/where would you move to in Utah if you moved back here? There are a few game dev companies here in the Salt Lake valley. There's a ton of software (not game) jobs all along the valley, down to the Provo/Orem/Draper area too, but most of the game companies are closer to central Salt Lake. There aren't tons, but there's certainly more than one here.

Here at the U of U we've got a decent game dev community that I'm sure you could explore as well. If you wanted to meet up with more indies I think the U would have a good number of them, or at least be a good place to find a good number of them.

ApochPiQ's link is also great.

Not that it's necessarily going to be your #1 pick, but Boston has a thriving indie scene, as well as a number of pretty weighty industry names (Harmonix, Irrational, Turbine, Zynga, etc.). If you can hack the climate and the lack of ethnic diversity, it's a nice little area...

Thanks for your posts all. I especially like the gamedevmap. One thing about me is that I'm not looking for a job. I'm more interested in a community of autonomous and devoted indies, however that seems to be the hardest thing to find. I know that my number one asset is my own skills, but I guess I'm doing a little bit of "partner dating" because I feel I work best when I work with people. I've basically narrowed my search to California or Utah based on my above criteria, but we'll see. Is it feasible to live in one state and take frequent trips to another for game jams and such?

Thanks for your posts all. I especially like the gamedevmap. One thing about me is that I'm not looking for a job. I'm more interested in a community of autonomous and devoted indies, however that seems to be the hardest thing to find.

Buy an RV and drive to all your indie friends.