The RFTB Origin Story

The story begins, as most good stories do, in an Irish pub.

It just so happens this Irish Pub was located in Cologne, Germany. The Corkonian, to be exact; a wee dander from the Kölnmesse during Gamescom week.

So there we was and we says to weselves we says "Bruh you live like two hours from me, how come I only see you when I get off a plane?"

Only we didn't say Bruh because it was 2018 at the time, I just put that in to be relatable.

I'm also not sure if the above story is entirely true. Might not have been Germany. Might have been an Irish Pub in San Francisco, or Cannes, London, but it definitely wasn't Ireland.

Anyway, we realised that, despite being two well-connected devs in our own fiefdoms, we knew very little about what was going on in each other's countries with regard to development, production, talent, tax breaks, funding or events.

Why? Because we couldn't be arsed.

It's true! Not only that, it's true of everyone. "Oh what's this? An Irish games event! Nice! Where is it? Oh, it's [TOO FAR FROM MY HOUSE]. Well, never mind then. I'll just wait for something similar to happen [CLOSER TO MY HOUSE]."

After much discussion, we came up with the ideal solution to all of the above. If we were going to get everyone in Ireland out to an event:

1. It can't be easy for some and difficult for others. It's got to be equally difficult for everyone.

2. Then we have to make it slightly less difficult.

And from that, the first Run For The Border was born!

For mutual inconvenience, we picked the bustling metropolis of Dundalk, halfway between Belfast and Dublin. Then we called Creative Europe, which, at the time, had a presence on BOTH sides of the border. Sigh, remember back when UK was a part of Europe? I kid you not! Creative Europe sprung for two 50-seater coaches: one from Belfast, one from Dublin.

"Equally difficult for everyone?" Check!

"Then slightly less difficult?" Check!

Mission accomplished!

In January 2019, about 120 devs from the North and South found their way to The Spirit Store in Dundalk, where we played some games, ate some pizza, listened to some talks, and came to the consensus that we should do this more often.

Then we all got Covid and didn't do it for four years but WE'RE BACK NOW and that's all that matters.

Here's some pics of the OG RFTB.

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