SLICE - Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo

SLICE, Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo, is a one-day B2B conference at McCaw Hall for indie and AA (double-A) game developers who need funding, marketing, team-building, and publisher conversations in a single Seattle Center day. Seattle Indies, the local indie-dev community, frames the event as created for indie developers by indie developers. Year two at McCaw Hall stacks panels, lectures, roundtables, micro-talks, Bring Your Own Game playtests, Pocket Gamer's Big Indie Pitch, a creative clinic, Portfolio Alley, a Women in Games mixer, speed networking, vendors, and an afterparty.

That program density is why the day compounds. Seattle's games scene sits next to big-tech campuses without sharing the same association calendars, and SLICE lands two days before PAX West (September 4-7 at the Seattle Convention Center), when visiting developers are already in town. Seattle Indies has named a 2026 fireside with Among Us developers Forest Willard and Marcus Bromander, plus an expanded demo area. Volunteer shifts come with free passes. Students and people laid off in the past year have discounted All Access paths on the ticket page, a practical note in a year when studio cuts still hang over the industry.

This expo is right if you are an indie or AA studio lead, designer, producer, or Seattle-area game worker who wants industry introductions rather than a consumer fan show. Sign up for the Big Indie Pitch only if you have a game ready for short rounds and expert feedback. The badge is a poor fit if you wanted an accredited angel room, a Korean chamber trade floor, or a Databricks agent talk. Bring a playable build or a crisp pitch, and use speed networking and Portfolio Alley as the working slots rather than sitting only in the auditorium.

Wednesday, September 2, 2026, doors at 8:00 AM through about 9:30 PM PDT at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street. Buy through seattleslice.org, which checks out on Eventbrite. Public listings put All Access around $141 including the afterparty, student All Access around $55, recently laid-off All Access around $71, and afterparty-only around $45. Confirm live tiers before Labor Day travel hardens. Refunds are listed up to seven days before the event.

Study the venue map for registration just inside the promenade doors, the basement lecture hall, the cafe pitch room, and Level 5 roundtables, which are first come, first served. Seattle Center parking is paid. Link light rail to Seattle Center is the simpler commute. Leave buffer for badge pickup, and treat the afterparty as part of the All Access day rather than an automatic add-on unless your ticket says so.