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Type of site | Social community platform for content created by gamers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003; 23 years ago (2003) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner | Game Jolt, Inc. |
| Founder(s) | Yaprak & David DeCarmine |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Current status | Online |
Game Jolt is a social community platform forvideo games, gamers andcontent creators. Founded by Yaprak and David DeCarmine, it is available oniOS,Android, and on the web and as a desktop app forWindows andLinux. Users share interactive content through a variety of formats including images, videos, live streams, chat rooms, and virtual events.
In 2021 Game Jolt revealed their own live streaming feature called Firesides. Firesides allowed multiple users to simultaneously livestream together with nearly no delay. The feature launched with a virtual concert showcasing its ability to accommodate multiple streamers.[1] On October 16, 2023, Firesides were removed from Game Jolt.[2]
Game Jolt Social by Game Jolt Inc. launched on both theApple App Store andGoogle Play Store in March 2022. "It's clear to us thatGen Z is tired of generic social media and they want a place specifically for gaming that supports all types of content they're creating–art, videos, thoughts, and livestreams all in one place." said Game Jolt founder and CEO Yaprak DeCarmine, in a statement to VentureBeat.[3]
The Game JoltApplication Programming Interface (usually known as the Game Jolt Game API) allows any developer using agame development platform that supportsHTTP operations andMD5 orSHA-1.[4][5] Game Jolt advertises that the API can:
Game Jolt regularly hostsgame jams where participants are encouraged to develop games for a chance to win prizes. They hosted their first game jam in 2009, Shocking Contest.[8]
In November 2014, Game Jolt announced the "Indies vs PewDiePie" game jam, partnering with the popularYouTuberFelix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg.[9] Developers were given a weekend (21–24 November) to create a game with the theme of "fun to play, fun to watch" to suit the Let's Plays entertainment style.[10] Users could rate entries afterwards until December 1 when the scores were counted up. The prize to the top 10 rated games was Felix playing the games on his channel as a means of promotion for the developers,[11] although later he played other entries.[12] One of the participants of the jam, now known as Outerminds Inc. was discovered and hired by PewDiePie to develop his mobile game,Legend of the Brofist.[citation needed]
Game Jolt partnered with Felix,Sean "Jacksepticeye" McLoughlin andMark "Markiplier" Fischbach to host "Indies vs Gamers" in July 2015.[13] The requirements for entries were arcade games using theGame Jolt Game API highscore tables, to be made between the July 17–20[14] and the top 5 games were played on the partner's YouTube channels.[15][16]
Following the "Indies vs PewDiePie" game jam in 2014, Game Jolt released their internal jam hosting tools public for all users to use as a service, to create their owngame jams that integrated with the main site.[17]
Today, Game Jolt focuses on hosting and co-hosting game competitions with established brands in order to bring monetary[18] and educational opportunities to their users. On April 15, 2024, an announcement was made about a collaboration with Pocket Worlds for the "HighRise Game Jam".[19] Pocket Worlds had sold NFTs up until roughly 2022, causing a community outburst. The situation was addressed, and the situation started to disperse.[20][21]
| Date | Theme | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||
| 13–21 June 2009 | Shocking[22] | ShockMaze | Infidels | Shocker: The Electrifying Hero |
| 1–31 August | Axiom[23][24] | Raimond Ex | Paul Moose In Space World | No Longer Apart |
| 1–7 November 2009 | Minimal[25][26] | Spectrum Wing | Saut | Fetus |
| 24–25 January 2010 | Rogue[27][28] | Super Space Rogues | Tower Climb | Flood the Chamber |
| 1–8 July 2010 | Indie Game Demake[29][30] | Warning Foregone | Sulkeis | Saucelifter 8-bit |
| 16 January–14 February 2011 | Invention Contest[31] | Fire With a Riot | Bun Dun | Monica |
| 20 August–24 September 2011 | Music Interpretation[32] | Je Suis Le Diable | Rhythmical | Jeremy |
| 11–19 August 2012 | Fear[33][34] | The Room | Fragments of Fear | Nyctophobia |
| 1–11 March 2013 | Chaos[35][36] | Void Rogue | Blues for Mittavinda | Stellar Zero |
| 9–18 March 2013 | Party[37] | Quantum Party Crasher | Super Clean Clean | Party Run |
| 21–24 November 2014 | Fun to play and watch (Indies vs PewDiePie)[10] | Lord of the Horde | Kid VS School | DANCE!DANCE! PewDiePie |
| 17–20 July 2015 | High scores (Indies VS Gamers)[14] | Racket Boy | Sushido | Super Nanny Sleepytime Ultra HD Alpha Omega |
| 29 July–13 August 2021 | Opera GX Game Maker Jam[38] | OPERIUS won $10,000 USD[39] | OH NO! ALIENS STOLE MY WIFI won $7,000 USD[39] | NETTIE AND SETTIE SAVE THE INTERNET won $3,000 USD[39] |
| 17 June–3 July 2022 | Together Jam[18] | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 5–8 August 2022 | Girls in Games Jam[40] | TBA | TBA | TBA |
Game Jolt hosts both physical and virtual events to entertain and prank its users, which consists of the following:
| Year | Event name | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Game Jolt Develop: Party![41] | Brighton, United Kingdom |
| 2018 | The Other Party at GDC by Game Jolt, DreamHack, Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd[42] | San Francisco, California, USA |
| 2019 | Indiepocalypse at GDC by Game Jolt, Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd and DreamHack[43][44] | San Francisco, California, USA |
| 2019 | Indie Forest PAX West Party by Game Jolt, DreamHack and Devolver Digital[45] | Seattle, Washington, USA |
Game Jolt has supported independent creators with a central platform to manage their content and communities since its start in 2003. David DeCarmine began development of Game Jolt at the age of 14 for a group of hobbyists, making games and sharing on forums in an early iteration known as Holo World.[46] The original intention was to create a platform for gamers where new games could be discoverable and quickly playable, and where feedback could be provided directly to the creators, allowing them to continue improving their games.
In 2008, Game Jolt was registered as an LLC,[47] then incorporated as Game Jolt Inc. in September 2020.
A new site launched in 2015 featuring aresponsive design, automated curation for both games and game news articles which weighs how recent a game was uploaded and how popular it is ("hot") and filtering options on game listings for platform, maturity rating and development status.[48]
In March 2022, Game Jolt launched a mobile application simultaneously on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store targeted at Gen Z gamers and creators. While in beta, the mobile app had 100,000 installs pre-launch.[3]
Game Jolt continues to host a large library of independent games. Game developers can upload their games directly to the site to share or sell.
They would allow distribution for downloadable games, later adding support forAdobe Flash,Unity andJava games[49] which allowed support for browser based games. In February 2013, Game Jolt built support for browser-basedHTML5 games as well.[50][51][52] A user levelling system was released into public beta in April 2013, incorporating theGJAPItrophies andhighscores, as well as site activity, to generate 'EXP' (experience points).[53]
Game Jolt Jams released in early 2014 as a service to allow users to create their owngame jams that integrated with the main site.[17][54]
In April 2016, an online marketplace was announced[55] and released the following month with an exclusive set of game titles, including Bendy and the Ink Machine, allowing developers to sell their games on the site.[56]
In January 2016, Game Jolt releasedsource code of the client and site's front end onGitHub underMIT license.[56][57]
In January 2022, Game Jolt bannedadult games from appearing on the site, stating in an email to developers that the site had become a "social media platform" and they "had to make decisions around the direction and future of the brand which has now included the removal of hosted games with explicitly adult content." In response to a tweet by Itch.io saying the site is not for prudes, they wrote in their own tweet: "Game Jolt is a platform with a large audience of 13-16 year olds. Our users asked us to clean up, so here we are."[58][59]
Afterbootstrapping Game Jolt with revenue earned from ads on the website for years, the DeCarmines secured venture capital in 2020 fromSoftBank,[60] doing so again in 2021 from founders ofTwitch,Rec Room, Modio and more.[61]
