Introducing the Association of Independent Game Websites

Published on 14^th January 2010 in Videogames, Websites, tagged AIGW, Thunderbolt.

When I was in Edinburgh last May, I met Philip Roberts, who handled the development for the games website SquareGo at the time. It was the first time that I’d talked to someone who does a similar job to what I do at Thunderbolt and it was incredibly interesting.

Over a few drinks, we chatted about website design and development, recruiting and motivating volunteers, games PR and a lot more. It was refreshing to talk to someone else who does the a similar job and faces the same issues that I do.

People who run sites like ours rarely speak to each other. Sure, there are a few forums, but on the whole, we don’t share that many ideas. I’ve been running Thunderbolt the way I have, not because of some established best practise, but because that’s just the way that I’ve figured out to be the best.

There isn’t somewhere you can go to read about how the most respected sites are run and how they’ve become a success. While web designers have sites like A List Apart and 24 ways, people who run videogames websites have, well, nothing.

So in the summer, I got in touch with the guys at DarkZero and Gamestyle about starting an organisation for our kind. I chose these two sites because I feel they have the same core values that we do at Thunderbolt.

The result of our discussions is The Association of Independent Game Websites. As you can see from the website, the AIGW’s goal “is to support non-commercial videogame websites, provide their owners with a place to exchange ideas and promote best practises.”

We haven’t sorted out exactly how the AIGW will be run and what we’re going to first, but we’ll be meeting up in London in March to do so. If you’re interested in the AIGW, check out the website and follow us on Twitter.

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© Philip Morton 2008-2012