Our History!

Timeline

2013

VGDC begins as a small group of passionate students

First known project: Customer Service, a 2D game exploring the world of retail

2014

Major project: Racing ASU, a 3D recreation of the Tempe campus in Unity

Club attends the PlayStation Experience expo in Las Vegas, meeting industry icons

Sponsored by Red Bull for on-campus events

2015

Club restructures to run like a real game studio

Hosts its first Global Game Jam in a Digital Culture hall

Develops a collaborative top-down adventure game with 15–20 members

Project workflow becomes team-based, with more structured pipelines

2015–2016

Launches its first full year-long project, Joyful

Expands to multiple projects per year, including Ninja Dudes and Doom Party

Tries out experimental workflows like the “Pod System” (design + programming pairs)

2016–2017

Yearly project: Twisted Sails, a 3D class-based multiplayer game
📦 Released: August 16, 2017

Club hosts multiple game jams, including Global Game Jam and in-house events

2017–2018

Yearly project: Chromaslice, a visually striking multiplayer game
📦 Released: April 18, 2018

Roles like Sound Design and Producer begin being formally added to teams

2018–2020

Club experiments with new structures, including the introduction of 2D and 3D art teams

Membership steadily grows, along with overall project ambition and polish

Pandemic hits and the club goes on hiatus until 2021

2022–2023

Yearly game suffered from overscoping and unfortunate leave of officers amidst development

Implemented kanban style task-tracking and team structures

📦 Bytes released: April 22, 2023

2022–2023

Club rebounds and creates a successful prototype for the next year’s game

📦 Rogue Nebula released: August 16, 2023

 

2023–2024

Adopts a new development pipeline with a dedicated pre-production phase

Increased participation in design discussions and development planning

Club wide participation in the scorespace VR jam, Results in Dunked VR
📦 Released: November 5, 2023

2024

Club manages to publish its yearly game to steam for the first time since Color Phase and Twisted Sails

📦 Unstable Star released: August 8, 2024

2024-2025

Continued focus on polish, structure, and team experience

📦 Spiraling Down released: May 3, 2025

2025-2026

Current year!