Global Game Jam 2013!

This article comes from Highwaygames.com

Founded in 2008, the Global Game Jam (GGJ) has become a global phenomenon within the game industry, growing in numbers and development exponentially over the last four years since its inception. The 2013 GGJ will be held on January 25-27, and over the course of that 48 hours, all across the world, jammers will be attempting to create and design their own game as according to the secret theme, which will be revealed on Friday afternoon after the keynote address via video.

The Global Game Jam was founded by Susan Gold (President of the Global Game Jam, Inc.), Gorm Lai (VP/Secretary of GGJ, Inc.) and Ian Schreiber, and was originally the project of the International Game Developer's Association (IGDA) up until this year, and as of 2013 the event will be managed by the Global Game Jam, Inc.

It is the world's largest 48 hour game design event, and in this age of mass communication when distant and time differences matter little in communication, the aim is to foster the development of innovative and experimental game concepts and promote global communication, collaboration and teamwork.

"GGJ is a creative incubator for game makers to challenge, innovate and experiment within their craft.[...] The jam is known for hellping foster new friendship, increase confidence and opportunities within the community. The jam is always an intellectual challenge. People are invited to explore new technology tools, trying on new roles in development and testing their skills to do something that requires them to design, develop, create, test and make a new game in the time span of 48 hours," explains the site.

It's even more astounding to learn what the jams have achieved over the last few years. In 2012 alone, there were over 10, 000 participants worldwide in 46 different countries, and they developed over 2100 games in a single weekend!

The Global Game Jam is a volunteer based organization, if you'd like to learn more about participating, locations or being involved in the event in a volunteer capacity, you can visit the site by clicking here.

Here's the teaser trailer for the 2013 GGJ, courtesy of the Global Game Jam, Inc.: