Perhaps missed in the September issue of the International Game Developer's Association's monthly "Perspectives" newsletter, lies an interesting analysis of the legal issues surrounding the #gamergate debacle. Written by Suzanne Jackiw, a 3L at Chicago-Kent University of Law, "The Legal Issues of #GamerGate" delves into the questions of cyberbullying, harassment, and defamation that have been so closely associated with the GamerGate "movement".

The FBI is working with the IGDA and "bullying experts" to help game developers cope with and fight against online bullying, harassment and threats. According to Polygon, the IGDA began talking to the federal law enforcement agency during Comic-Con in San Diego back in July.

The International Game Developers Association has thrown its support behind game developers who have been the target of harassment online over the last week or so on social media. Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, Polytron founder and Fez creator Phil Fish, and Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series creator Anita Sarkeesian were just some of the names mentioned by the IGDA.

According to new data from the International Game Developers Association most game developers think working at Valve Software would be the best career move they could make. The data is part of the IGDA's annual Developer Satisfaction Survey. The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Western Ontario and M2 Research polled more than 2,200 developers on a variety of topics.

A recent survey of its members by the International Game Developers Association finds that 56 percent of its members are in favor of unions for game developers. The association that represents game developers today announced the result of its Developers Satisfaction Survey from earlier this year, which found that more than half of respondents were in favor of unionization.

The International Game Developers Association did something last night that it doesn't normally do: it issued a statement publicly commenting on a feud between several companies over trademarks. But apparently the international organization that represents game developers thinks that Candy Crush Saga maker King is going too far in its ongoing battle to control the trademarks for "Candy" and "Saga."

In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, Pennsylvania State Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf introduced a resolution directing the Joint State Government Commission to study "the issue of violence prevention, to establish an advisory committee to conduct a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the underlying causes of violent crime, including mass shootings, and to report to the Senate with its findings and recommendations."

The International Game Developers Association has named this year's recipients for the 2014 Game Developers Conference Scholars program. The program gives recipients a pass into a specific conference (in this case the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March), but they are still responsible for other costs like travel lodging, meals, etc.

The International Game Developers association passed a long a statement praising the South Australian government for its decision to take down billboard ads which compared gaming to gambling. On December 18 the international organization joined Australian video games trade group the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) in its vocal opposition to the ads, which both groups called anti-game propaganda.

An open letter from former IGDA board member Darius Kazemi explains why he quit the IGDA with three days remaining in his term after GDC 2013 in March. According to Kazemi, a questionable GDC party sponsored by the IGDA that saw the resignation of Loot Drop's Brenda Romero as co-chair of the IGDA Women in Games SIG, was certainly part of it, but there were other factors.

In the "Letters to the Editor" section of the Star-Ledger newspaper, IGDA chair of the Anti-Censorship and Social Issues Committee Daniel Greenberg says that New Jersey lawmakers are "playing games with truth." He is referring to bill S2715, which mandates that public schools in New Jersey through the state Department of Education spread disinformation about video games to parents.

On this week's show we talk about extreme developer harassment, GameStop's Xenoblade pricing, EA's Humble Origin Bundle, the latest poll from GamePolitics, and a whole lot more. Download Episode 65 now: SuperPAC Episode 65 (1 hour, 15 minutes) 69.3 MB.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) revealed that it plans to start a number of support groups for developers who have found themselves on the business end of harassment and threats of violence by angry gamers on a regular basis. The news was revealed as part of Polygon's report on online harassment and threats that are frequently leveled against game developers.

The IGDA and its New Jersey Chapter have written a letter to Governor Chris Christie (R) strongly encouraging him to veto S2715 - or as the group calls it, "the New Jersey Video Game Disinformation law." The IGDA urges Gov. Christie to veto the law because it provides "false and misleading information to the people of New Jersey" and because it could expose the state to lawsuits "if the state fails to propagate a full and accurate assessment of the research into video games."

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) announced that Ed Fries, former VP of game publishing and co-founder of the Xbox project for Microsoft Game Studios; and Jen McLean, former CEO of 38 Studios; will deliver keynotes at the IGDA Summit 2013. The IGDA Summit 2013 takes place July 31 – Aug. 13 in the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel.

The Southern Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo (or SIEGE, for short) will debut an International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Leadership Track focusing on advancing the state of the art in game production and management, on Oct. 4 – 6, 2013, at the Marriott NW Galleria Hotel in Atlanta. The IGDA Leadership Track at SIEGE is headed up by Keith Fuller of Fuller Game Production and is an extension of the IGDA’s popular Leadership Forums.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has been a vocal critic of the House's Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) since it was reintroduced earlier this year and then passed by a large margin, so it should come as no shock that the organization's Anti-Censorship and Social Issues Committee has issued a statement applauding the Senate's stall of the bill and the President's promise to veto it in its current form.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) announced the chair and board members of the "non‐profit membership organization serving individuals who create video games" for its 2014 season. During the April board meeting Dustin Clingman, the CEO of First5 Games, was re-elected as the chair of the IGDA.

Earlier this week the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) issued a statement on CISPA (which we admittedly missed) coming out strongly against the cybersecurity bill passed in the House yesterday afternoon.

In a blog post republished by Gamasutra, IGDA head Kate Edwards finally takes the controversy over their Game Developers Conference party head-on and promises that the group dedicated to all game developers will be more vigilant in what it allows at its events and how it will react when it is participating in or at a third-party event.

Edwards lays out six extensive ground rules for the IGDA:

While GDC may be over, the accusations continue to fly over the International Game Developers Association's GDC party which was brought to light last week in this report. Now the co-presenter of the party, YetiZen, is throwing a few elbows at the IGDA and the press.

Video Game Developer and IGDA Member Daniel Greenberg has challenged Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to a debate on whether video games are a bigger problems than guns in America. His comments were made awhile back during a segment on MSNBC.

While it is unlikely that the Senator from Tennessee will take up Mr. Greenberg's offer for a vigorous and substantive debate on guns, media violence, and real-world violence, he has thrown down the gauntlet anyway:

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Anti-Censorship and Social Issues Committee Chairman Daniel Greenberg has written a letter to Vice-President Joe Biden calling for more studies and offering the organization's assistance and expertise as the Vice-President's task force on gun violence meets with various groups about solutions to the problem on mass shootings in America.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) sent out a reminder to students who would like to join "IGDA Scholars" at GDC in San Francisco later this year through its annual scholarships program. The registration for the 2013 IGDA Scholarships Program is January 11, so if you are interested in signing up you should head on over to igda.org/scholars now.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has named Kate Edwards as the organization's new Executive Director. Edwards has more than 16 years' worth of experience in the game industry as a culturalization strategist. Edwards' unique expertise has been applied to many high profile games including Halo, Age of Empires, Fable, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Modern Warfare 3 and Dance Central.

In a segment that aired during Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto's show this week, Daniel Greenberg joined in to discuss Senator Jay Rockefeller's (D-WV) bill to study the effects of violent video games on children. Greenberg is the IGDA Anti-Censorship Committee Chairman and game developer at Washington D.C.-based Media Rez.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has added two new members to its board today. The two new appointments are the result of the group's annual Board of Directors election. Joining the board this year are Microsoft executive Ed Fries and Design Direct Deliver founder and consultant Sheri Rubin. They have been elected to three-year terms. The new candidates were chosen by popular vote among 979 IGDA members.

Video game charity Get-Well Gamers Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary December 3, with a special holiday event supported by IGDA LA (the International Game Developers' Association's Los Angeles Chapter) and WIGI (Women in Games International). They are celebrating ten years of helping sick kids by giving them something to do while waiting for serious medical treatments.

The second annual IGDA Foundation Charity Dinner takes place October 27, this year putting David Jaffe in the hot seat. The event costs $200 to attend, with the proceeds going to various charitable endeavors including multiple scholarship funds. It will take place on the evening of Thursday, October 27th at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, LAX, in Los Angeles, in conjunction with this year’s IGDA Leadership Forum. This year John Romero will be continuing his “legend on legend” interview of seminal game designers with an interview of David Jaffe.

IGDA Japan is organizing the Fukushima Game Jam, a developer event that it hopes will stimulate game development following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last year. The Game Jam is organized with the help 9Leap, a student development contest and will take place from August 27 to 28 in Minami-Souma city. The event is modeled after Global Game Jam hosted by the IGDA each year, where development teams take a theme given by organizers to create a game in a limited amount of time.