The leaves are falling, the air is getting colder, which means it’s time to get cozy. 🍂

Which means it’s the perfect time to feature one of the studios from our third cohort of the Baby Ghosts program: Cozy Comet Games!

This all-Albertan cooperative is not only hard at work on their first game, but is also dedicated to supporting other communities and coops across Canada. Members Madison and Derek are also part of the team behind Interactive Arts Alberta and help organize the Games Discovery Exhibition (GDX) every year.

But let’s let them tell you in their own words…

Who is Cozy Comet?

• Derek: We are a team of flawed (but learning) humans who are doing our best to build a sustainable studio within——and sometimes outside——an industry that prioritizes worker exploitation and greed capitalism.
• Madison: While we have seen the traditional model of game development work, we have also seen the wake of what it has left behind it.
• Hope: We believe that the current mainstream development practices – crunch, exploitation, rampant layoffs – are unethical and unsustainable and wish to build a better future for the games industry.
• Steph: Through community collaborations and storytelling within our games, we aim to make the gaming industry more inclusive.

• Marcus: Cozy Comet is both a game and people development studio.

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What do you think we can do to make the games industry better?

• Hope: We need to build an industry where the current standard of treatment of workers is unacceptable and impossible for companies to achieve.

• Marcus: More than anything, we need to pass forward knowledge and give back to the community.

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What are you working on right now?

• Derek: We are working on a cozy, narrative-driven inventory management game about finding meaning in moments, and how this meaning shapes who we are.
• Madison: I am so excited to chat about our game because it’s undergone a lot of changes since we first began the program a year ago. The game itself is truly coming to be a reflection of the folks in the studio as well as what we believe the market will be receptive to.
• Hope: It’s about the emotional connections we forge with objects through meaningful moments throughout our lives.

Head over to Cozy Comet’s website to stay tuned on what they’re working on. ☄️

Latest Ghost News

We recently wrapped up our application review period for our fourth cohort. In the end, over 40 studios applied! We met so many incredible teams and had such inspiring conversations about how to create systems change in the industry, but sadly, we were only able to fund five teams. If you want to help us support more teams in the future, you can donate at any time.

Thanks to all the teams who applied and shared your hopes and dreams with us. 💜

Tomorrow is the third year anniversary of the launch of our joint impact fund Weird Ghosts! Celebrate by purchasing Psychroma on sale on Steam. 👻

And have a very cozy spooky season!

— eileen & jennie