Watch Japanese indie game festival BitSummit Gaiden this weekend

The annual BitSummit event, Japan's festival celebrating indie games, was originally planned for May this year in Kyoto, but had to be cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its replacement is BitSummit Gaiden, an online event including Twitch streams and a Discord server.

Over 75 games from Japan and around the world are being showcased, with streamable demos available on Utomik rather than on a show floor. All of the games are divided up into five teams and you can see them on a neat map of the event.

On the Discord server there are live chats with the developers, let's plays, and competitions, and the server will remain after the weekend as a permanent community. Follow the events on Twitch as well as the hashtag #BitSummitGaiden on social media.

For more on what makes BitSummit so special, here's our story on how it's paving the way for indie games in Japan from last year.