2006 Annual Report

Welcome to the IGDA's 2006 Annual Report. The board has decided to stick with our tree-saving format and present the below info in web-format only. In addition to summary comments from IGDA board chair Brian Reynolds, we report on our financial results, highlight accomplishments from 2006 and thank those who have made it all possible.

A Word from the Chair

Dear Members and Friends:

Over the past year, the IGDA continued to make substantial strides toward its central goals of advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers.

As an example, I'd like to mention that at about the same time that this annual report is released, the first public draft of the new IGDA Crediting Standards will arrive as well, ready for feedback at a series of GDC roundtables conducted by the Credit Standards Committee. All of us who make a living creating games know how critical it is in our careers to receive fair professional credit for the work we do. Our goal in establishing the first voluntary industry-wide crediting standards is to take what has been a controversial topic and make it highly non-controversial by creating some common sense rules that we don't think will actually be intrusive or hard for anyone to swallow. The Committee has done some fantastic work in sorting out the fundamental professional issues from the matters of individual taste. In the future, we hope to find ways to reward companies willing to adopt developer-friendly crediting practices through increased recognition, such as an authorized “We use IGDA Crediting Standards!” logo for use in recruiting efforts.

Meanwhile in other areas, there has been substantial progress on a Casual Games Sales Data Reporting Standard, we've formed the IGDA Foundation to perform charitable works in the development community, and the Employment Contract QoL Certification Taskforce is hard at work on their initiative to add transparency to employment contracts. We'll also continue an important IGDA tradition by presenting the 7th annual Game Developer Choice Awards at GDC, honoring the IGDA membership's choices for the best games of the year, along with the developers of those games. In keeping with the IGDA's mission of advancing the careers of developers, the Choice Awards include a “mandatory attribution” rule, meaning that actual developers' names will appear on the trophies and awards, in addition to the names of studios and publishers.

As our ranks have risen past the 12,000 membership mark, this year we selected the Talley Management Group to take over many of our day-to-day “back room” operations, a decision which in coming years will significantly improve our capacity to serve our members. Look for many exciting improvements in 2007!

Finally, I'd like to take this chance to thank all of the many volunteers, contributors, and staff members without whom this organization could not exist at all, as well as all of you members whose dues make our efforts possible – the simple act of joining the IGDA is itself an important form of participation. We've become a significant and respected professional organization within our industry, and it's your help that put us there!

Together, we are playing an active role in shaping the future of games.

Game on!

Brian Reynolds
- Chair, IGDA
- CEO, Big Huge Games
brian -at- igda -dot- org

Simplified Financials and Statistics

These charts provide a snapshot of the IGDA’s financial health and overall progress. The simplified Income Statement outlines the revenue sources of the organization along with the various classes of expenditure for both 2006 and 2005. With strong community support, the IGDA was able to generate surplus operating revenue, helping us to recover from the previous year's net loss.

Simplified Financials

Income Statement
January - December 2006, 2005 (US$)

Balance Sheet
As of December 31st 2006, 2005 (US$)

Statistics

IGDA Members

Registered Free User Accounts

Studio Affiliates

Industry Partners

Forum Posts

'06 Highlights

Check the news archives, the press release index and the newsletter archives for a complete run down of news and updates from 2006. Here are some choice highlights from the year:

Credit Standards:
At GDC06, the Credit Standard Committee presented its first paper snapshotting the current state of game industry crediting. Throughout 2006, the Committee worked to prepare the initial draft Game Crediting Standard to be presented and discussed during GDC07. The central principle is that everyone who spends any significant amount of time working on a project should receive proper credit for their work.

Game Developers Choice Awards:
The IGDA presented the 6th annual Choice Awards at GDC 2006. Regarded as the most meaningful industry awards, the Choice Awards allow the IGDA and its members to recognize achievement and innovation among peers. Shadow of the Colossus took home Best Game, along with four other awards. RPG legend Richard Garriott was recognized for a lifetime of achievement.

Employment Contracts:
The Employment Contract QoL Certification Taskforce was hard at work during 2006, preparing its initial set of benchmarks for basic level of developer Quality of Life. The Taskforce will be presenting materials during GDC07.

IGDA Foundation :
Late in 2006, the IGDA formed a sister organization - the IGDA Foundation - to perform charitable works on behalf of the IGDA and game development community. Among their first initiatives, they have awarded an AI scholarship to GDC in honor of the late Eric Dybsand.

Special Interest Groups:
As a bottom-up tool for developers to self-organize, the prolific nature of SIGs continues to amaze. 2006 saw the release of reports and white papers on casual games and alternate reality games. The Casual Games SIG also introduced both a sales data reporting standard and extensive listing of aggregators. Further, the Education SIG was revitalized after a 300+ attendee curriculum workshop at GDC06 (with another sold out workshop at GDC07). In 2006, a new SIG to cover tools developers and development was formed.

"Famous Last Words" 5-Year Anniversary:
Jim Charne has been sharing his wealth of legal knowledge via his "Famous Last Words" column on a monthly basis. December 2006 marked the column's 5th year anniversary! The full archive of is available online and Jim is still going strong...

Events:
The IGDA hosted its ever-popular annual members-only party at E3. Additionally, IGDA leaders participated in multiple industry events throughout the year, from SIGGRAPH to Brighton and the Montreal Game Summit to the first game conference in Portugal.

Thanks!

A huge word of thanks and pat on the back to the 12,000+ members who have faith in the IGDA, the nearly 500 volunteers that keep the engine running, the Studio Affiliates that push to get their people involved and the Corporate Partners that support the work of the org.