Hey, gamers. Fancy a bit of foreplay to Freeplay?

Indie game-makers can now put their hands up for the ultimate game of show-and-tell, to be held at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) next month.

The first-ever Game On Symposium: 423, which has been named an official satellite event of Australia's foremost independent games festival, Freeplay, will be a platform for emerging indie game-makers looking to make their mark in game development.

The symposium, lovingly nicknamed Foreplay to Freeplay, will be a warm-up space for industry newbies looking to test and play their local wares in an intimate setting before heading to Melbourne's Freeplay festival in September.

The symposium, held in conjunction with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Brisbane, Griffith University Film School, QANTM College Brisbane, Bond University and Southbank Institute of Technology, will be held over two days in July at QUT's Creative Industries Precinct (July 14) and QANTM College (July 15).

Olivia Porgand, curator of public programs at QUT's Creative Industries Precinct, said the symposium leads on from the annual 48-Hour Game-Making challenge and is the perfect opportunity for indie game-makers to test games that are hot off the press, being developed or still being dreamt up.

"We have a solid program of guest speakers, but we also want to use the symposium as a forum for coding and design challenges and testing and presenting ideas," Ms Porgand said.

Truna from IGDA's Brisbane Chapter said The Game On Symposium was about showcasing Australia's next generation of game-makers in a friendly, informal setting.

"In Brisbane we are seeing a new wave of indie gamers springing up like mushrooms. We are seeing a lot of small arts studios making games for the sheer passion of it, rather than the gaming world just being dominated by large companies," she said.

"The industry is evolving and we are catching up with the fact that games no longer exist just in the realm of adolescent men or children.

"The symposium is an opportunity for gamers and makers to indulge in the community and passion that makes the world of indie games thrive."

For more information on the Game On Symposium: 423 or to submit ideas visit the CI Precinct website.

Media contact: Alita Pashley, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or alita.pashley@qut.edu.au

QUT's Michael Gillett, Olivia Porgand and Sheri-Leigh Burrows