CARY, NC – Icarus Studios, a provider of white-label massively multi-player online games, virtual worlds, and serious games for entertainment, corporate, and government clients, hosted the Triangle Global Game Jam at its studio over the weekend.

College students, faculty, and industry members worldwide participated online in the 48-hour game building marathon.

The Triangle gathering included about 45 local game developers.

This is the first time the Triangle game development community has been a part of such an event.

While individual and regional Game Jams have been held in the last few years, never has there been one of such massive size and scope as the Global Game Jam.

GGJ was the brainstorm of Susan Gold, director of Game Program Review and chair of the Education Special Interest Group of the International Game Developers Association.

“It is all about the games and the ideas that form them. I was looking for a project that explored the incredible innovative and collaborative nature of video games,” says Gold.

“I wanted to create the Global Game Jam as a unique idea space and an amazing experiment in creativity.”

The GGJ Web site (http://globalgamejam.org) will host all of the games for free download and play. Players and developers will also have the ability to rate each other’s games.

The site allows viewers to look at the source code of the games as an educational tool. All intellectual property created during the GGJ will be protected under a Create Commons license.

During the upcoming Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, held March 23-27, 2009, the GGJ will share the most innovative games at the education summit.

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