Timeline
A journey through the work of Interactive Arts Alberta
2012
2015
2016
2017
2018-20
2021
A group of like-minded students comes together at the University of Alberta through the Video Game Art and Design (VGAD) club (now Games Den) and discusses how to approach getting jobs in the AAA games industry.
The inaugural Game Discovery Exhibition, held on April 25, 2015, at the University of Alberta launches. Organized by VGAD, it brought together over 650 attendees, 40 presenters, and local indie developers to celebrate and showcase Alberta's gaming community.
The Walkthrough Entertainment Society for the Interactive Arts in Alberta (WESIAA) incorporates.
GDX 2016 takes place May 7-8 at MacEwan University with over 50 local exhibitors and a slew of panels, including speakers from BioWare, Beamdog, and the Game Artisans of Canada. There is a tabletop gaming area, a local indie game tournament run by Extra Life, and a Smash 4 tournament run by the Edmonton Smash Community.
GDX takes place with several smaller versions of the event throughout the year.
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WESIAA declares itself the industry association for video games for the province of Alberta.
IAA enters a period of dormancy prior to the pandemic with a board that is unable to pass significant motions or action on events.
IAA returns with new branding and new board members. IAA white labels "Edmonton Direct" for the Edmonton Screen Industries Office and sees significant success for the online format.
GDX 2024 moves to all 10-days of KDays with the ongoing partnership of Explore Edmonton. GDX welcomes over 100,000 attendees during that time.
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The Walkthrough Collaborative Centre opens for free coworking for game developers in the Edmonton region.
2022
GDX is relaunched in partnership with KDays. A limited conference takes place in the mornings before the 3-day exhibition opens to the public.
2023
GDX 2023 relaunches with a full conference at NAIT as well as a 3-day exhibit at KDays. The exhibit welcomes 46,000 attendees and becomes the largest indie games focused festival in Canada.
2024
2025
GDX 2025 welcomes 125,000 attendees over 10-days at KDays.
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GDXpedition is launched and IAA visits Red Deer, Calgary, and Lethbridge to discuss how to build a better games industry.
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Baby Ghosts Alberta Cohort 1 launches with the support of the Canada Media Fund and the Government of Alberta. This accelerator directly injects over $100,000 in cash contributions to four independent game development studios across the province.
2026
IAA assists studios in securing publisher contracts and Canada Media Fund applications. Alongside in-kind support for other ventures IAA puts $2.1 million dollars directly into the Edmonton ecosystem through their efforts.
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GDX 2026 decouples the conference and the exhibition, with the 2026 exhibition seeing over 100,000 visitors.
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IAA hosts monthly events at the Walkthrough Collaborative Centre and has four indie studios that volunteer to keep the space running and sustainable.