Melbourne Games Week Adds More Alcohol-Free Events for Sober Hangouts

Melbourne International Games Week is adding more sober-friendly hangouts to its lineup, with several alcohol-free events running alongside the usual networking nights.

Creative industries have a habit of mixing work and play—sometimes so closely that industry launches end up paired with drinks, and relationships are built at after-hours gatherings. Long-standing commentary on the arts has pointed out that bar sales can effectively subsidise a wide range of cultural activity, helping everything from small music rooms to major performing venues keep the lights on. For independent creators, alcohol sponsorship can function as a dependable way to pull in new faces for a first screening, a show debut, or a launch event.

Even with the obvious downsides that come with liquor-heavy functions, many organisers still see alcohol as one of the most consistent forms of sponsorship—or at least as an easy mechanism for getting conversations started. In Australia’s creative sector, there’s a sense of dependency, and the same pattern can be seen across games.

Drinking Games

Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW) gathers developers from across Australia. Over the course of a single week, attendees get chances to trade stories and advice during happy-hour style meetups—whether that means a beer, an open bar, a wine-paired dinner, or a cocktail hour built for networking. The event is known for giving game devs a stack of new contacts from around the country, but also for the “PAX pox” and the kind of hangover that can follow you for days. That mix can be hard to navigate if you don’t drink much, or if you’re completely sober.

Alcohol can be a social catalyst for some, but for others it can push them out, or even create outright danger. Setting aside health considerations, the blurred line between “work” and “leisure” in these environments can also make room for intimidating or predatory behaviour—especially when alcohol is paired with anything that reduces inhibitions. For people who don’t drink, these spaces are frequently uncomfortable, hard to access, or even feel like they’re hostile to their presence.

Aside from structured networking sessions, many of the connections made during games week come from parties and other social get-togethers. Those can be just as difficult to handle if you’re not comfortable in settings where heavy drinking is the default.

MIGW is now responding to those concerns. Along with its standard lineup of boozy nights—such as the Australian Game Developer Awards evening, Co-op drinks, and Megadev7—the week is also expanding into alcohol-free socialising and networking options.

Alternative Options

This year’s alcohol-free choices were more numerous than before. On the first Sunday of MIGW, Tom and Jeb in Space hosted an alcohol-free networking event called Ice Cream Social Experiment. Attendees paid $35 to eat Ben & Jerry’s, with vegan options included, plus mocktails, while chatting about the industry. It was clearly positioned as a welcome addition to the social schedule, and it sold out quickly. While $35 may look high for an ice-cream event, it matches typical networking pricing; Megadev7 runs $35–$60 on top of drinks, and the “food baby” you might get from dessert is likely to be less disruptive than a full-on hangover.

For musicians and sound folks, there’s also the VMDO Networking Breakfast. It gives Victorian audiophile attendees a chance to meet industry leaders and learn more about the skills involved in creating music for games.

And if you’re hoping to unwind after a long stretch, there’s Hovergarden’s annual games party to consider.

Hovergarden’s parties have been a MIGW staple since 2013. Image supplied.

Introducing Moth

Hovergarden’s curatorial collective is known for running events, parties, and showcases that spotlight experimental games from around the world.

Since 2013, curatorial duo Chad Toprak and Andrew Brophy have built fun, social events that put experimental games front and centre. This year, they’re returning to MIGW with a twist for their 2019 party: MOTH. Partnering with games collective PlayReactive, the event will be completely alcohol free. The duo explained the decision in a Twitter thread earlier this month:

MOTH will be a 100% alcohol-free party. While this isn’t an immediate cure for the problems these gatherings face, we view it as a practical move in the right direction, and we’re pleased to set an example. It wasn’t a difficult call, and it came about pretty naturally.

— hovergarden (@hovergarden) October 4, 2019

In their follow-up, the pair said it was an easy, natural choice made with their community in mind—while also clarifying that they aren’t against alcohol in general. They also noted the party ends early, so attendees can “stay for all of Moth and then kick on to another event afterwards, FOMO free.” MOTH will take place in the same venue area as Hovergarden’s 2018 event, “Arty After Party,” which featured commissioned games that were launched on the night.

When asked if creating a “dry” event was more complicated, Toprak and Brophy said the opposite. They pointed to lower costs and fewer risks. With fewer variables tied to lowered inhibitions, their gathering could focus on celebrating commissioned work—aiming for curated games to lead the spotlight, and for the day to be remembered for “videogames and good vibes,” rather than alcohol. They also said their first dry party was received with enthusiasm, and Toprak encouraged other organisers not to feel pressured into thinking sobriety is intimidating:

“For anyone who wants to run a sober event, my one advice is to just do it! Communities are about trust and care, if you care for your community, I’m confident they will trust in your decision to run a sober event.”

These MIGW events are positioned as stand-alone ways to spend an afternoon or evening—regardless of how someone feels about alcohol. It’s a positive sign to see organisers pushing back on the idea that “sober” has to equal “serious,” even though alcohol is so common in creative industry culture.

Not every event needs to be alcohol free, but making alcohol-free spaces normal is a move toward a more welcoming industry—one that puts everyone’s comfort ahead of the default. With the goal of supporting a broader range of people working in games, it’s also important to ensure the “rich, white” boys’ club doesn’t become the only social and professional default. When networking and social events happen in a wider variety of settings, more people get a real seat at the table.

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Jini Maxwell is a curator at ACMI and an award-winning videogame journalist. They curated “Honk: Untitled Goose Exhibition,” co-curated Gay24, a monthly film night focused on rare, radical, and archival queer films. Jini is currently co-curating a major videogame exhibition at ACMI.

• GCAP
• Melbourne International Games Week
• MIGW
• PAX Aus

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