Game developers participate in Resist Jam to protest oppressive authoritarianism

Game developers are doing their part to resist “oppressive authoritarianism” in all of its forms through an event called Resist Jam.

The jam runs from March 3 to March 11, and it included a series of talks and workshops leading up to the jam during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. More than 750 people signed up to participate.

The organizers of the event wrote, “The global political climate grows increasingly terrifying by the day. We want to empower people to resist through the power of interactive media.”

Among the judges for the event are Rami Ismail of Vlambeer, Ron Gilbert, Jamil Moledina of Google Play, and others. Games that opt in will be sold in a bundle on Itch.io, with proceeds going to charity.

In a kickoff talk, Ismail told the group, “Making games can change people’s lives. We are to be the bards of this revolution. Piss something off. Make something angry. If you’re not doing that, you aren’t resisting,” Rami says. “Your voice is powerful. Be the megaphone in your community.”

Other speakers included Dan Cook and Mark DeLoura. Partners in the event include Indiecade, the International Game Developers Association, Devolver Digital, Raw Fury, Games for Change, and the Global Game Jam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATe-02ycqi4

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.