Fantastic Fest Spawns Indie Gaming Festival

Annual genre film festival Fantastic Fest announced Fantastic Arcade, a spin-off dedicated to showcasing new games from independent developers and publishers, at Austin's Highball and famous Alamo Drafthouse theater. Running alongside Fantastic Fest at nearby venues from September 23 to 26, Fantastic Arcade's featured indie game designers will have an opportunity to show off their latest titles to an audience mix of film-goer attendees and gamers -- organizers expect over 4,000 attendees for the festival. The festival's curators say they've "combed the indie game development community nationwide to identify new innovative game titles from promising game designers". Fantastic Arcade's curating team includes Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League, game designer Eddo Stern, and CineVegas alum Mike Plante and Roger Tinch. Along with setups that will allow visitors to play indie games on display, the four-day event will offer a games showcase from major publishers, panel sessions with game industry guest speakers, and live game demos on Alamo Drafthouse's movie screens. Fantastic Arcade will also feature a a machinima film competition judged by Red Vs. Blue creator Burnie Burns, chiptune music performances, screenings of games culture films, video game art installations, a Starcade competition, and a "light saber dance party." "While Fantastic Fest is already known as a prestigious film event, it has evolved into an ideal venue for independent game developers and game publishers to exhibit their original games to their target demographic," says Fantastic Fest co-founder and Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League.