| Freeplay Independent Games Festival | |
|---|---|
 The Freeplay 2018 logo | |
 The 2018 Freeplay visual identity art | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Independent video game development |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Location(s) | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Country | Australia |
| Years active | 19 |
| Established | 21 May 2004 |
| Founder | Katharine Neil & Marcus Westbury |
| Most recent | 5 October 2023 |
| Previous event | Parallels (2023) |
| Next event | 2024 Awards |
| Participants | 50+ |
| Attendance | 500+ |
| Sponsors | |
| Website | freeplay |
The Freeplay Independent Games Festival is Australia's longest-running and largest independent games festival, first established in 2004.[1] The Festival celebrates fringe artists and game makers, and highlights grassroots developers and art games. It gathers artists, designers, programmers, writers, gamers, creators, games critics, games academics and students to celebrate the art form of independent games and the culture around them.
Freeplay is funded primarily through arts grants. Past and present sponsors include Australia Council for the Arts, Film Victoria, Victoria State Government, City of Melbourne, Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), and RMIT University.
With the aim of celebrating game making as arts practice, Freeplay has consistently aligned itself with the arts, and over the years has partnered with arts organisations such as Australian Centre for the Moving Image, State Library Victoria, Next Wave Festival, Wheeler Centre, Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Arts House, National Young Writers' Festival, and more.[2]
The current director of Freeplay is Chad Toprak (2017–).[3] Previous directors have included Dan Golding (2014–2017),[4] Katie Williams and Harry Lee Shang Lun (2013–2014),[5] Paul Callaghan and Eve Penford-Dennis (2008–2012).[6] The founding directors of Freeplay were Katherine Neil and Marcus Westbury.[7]