A MAZE. / Berlin 2026

This talk frames the progressive dissolution of independent games festivals as a form of cultural extinction, and calls for urgent action to preserve a fragile ecosystem. It compares these festivals to exhausted fireflies, tracing their final journey before they are obliterated against the sterilised windscreen of an industry governed by market repetition and algorithmic visibility. Through an examination of the siloing of games journalism and the narrowing of platform discoverability, the session makes a case for the niche, the suboptimal, and the experimental. It concludes with a set of actionable steps for anyone who wants to nurture a firefly, and dodge the windscreen.