You know what’s been quietly happening in Portland for more than a decade with far less positive attention than it so richly deserves…? PIGSquad — the Portland Indie Game Squad — has been building an extensive indie game development community here in the Rose City. With far less fanfare than the Seattle game community. Building stuff. Hosting game jams. Testing each other’s games. Being awesome. But this…? This is definitely a — ahem — leveling up situation.
PIGCon is their first-ever convention, happening May 30-31 at Norse Hall. Video games, tabletop games, card games. 500 to 800 people expected. Speakers coming from Seattle, New York, Europe, and Australia.
Want to be listed among those speakers or maybe have a game you’d like to share…? Well, you better hurry. The Call for Speakers and games closes April 13, 2026.
As PIGSquad founder and lead organizer Will Lewis told Portland Business Journal:
“It was cool to look at that (showcase) and say, ‘What’s next?’ We’ve been talking about PIGCon and if we were able to pull 220 folks for our end of year showcase in December in a very local community way, (then) we are ready to jump into PIGCon and realize that dream.”
Will sees as a big step forward in PIGCon as PIGSquad’s post-pandemic reset — a chance to figure out what the organization can do for an industry dealing with major studio layoffs and closures. He’s also evaluating an incubator to help launch games and a coworking space with shared resources and mentoring.
Again — because I know you — I’m going to say it again: speaker and game applications close April 13.
If you make games — or if you just like playing them — keep an eye on this one. Tickets are purported to be going on sale mid-April. And if you want to submit a game or a talk before the deadline, head to the PIGCon site.
