TTGDA: Representation of interests for game designers also in North America

A number of game designers in North America are preparing to found the Table Top Game Designers Association (TTGDA). The launch is planned for the first quarter of 2024. 

"We are delighted that a number of game designers – including members of the SAZ – have now taken the initiative to establish a strong national representative body for game designers in the USA, Canada and Mexico," comments Hans-Peter Stoll, Managing Director of Spiele-Autoren-Zunft e.V. (Game Designers Association, GDA), on this initiative.  

Initiators and supporters

The initiators are Geoff Engelstein, Sen-Foong Lim and Elizabeth Hargrave. There is also a list of 22 supporters on the TTGDA website, including Richard Garfield, Matt Leacock and the former chairman of the GDA, Alan R. Moon. Hans-Peter Stoll comments: "The GDA Board has supported this initiative in recent months and will continue to provide the TTGDA with advice and assistance in the future. An independent organisation in North America will contribute to better and more targeted representation of game authors and their interests there. This is also an important step against the backdrop of a different legal system with regard to copyrights and copyright laws.“ 

Counterweight to increasing globalisation

As the games industry and its publishers become increasingly globalised, the GDA with its regional groups in Italy and the Netherlands, the Société des Auteurs de Jeux (SAJ) in France and the Table Top Game Designers Association (TTGDA) in North America form a serious counterweight. "In the future, we are striving for a close exchange and the creation of international structures and hope to establish further organisations in other regions in order to further strengthen the position of game designers worldwide," continues Stoll. 

Source: www.ttgda.org