Code of conduct

Version 1.0 · 11 September 2026

Game Startup Dojo started as a community initiative to support game developers in southern Sweden and our neighbours across the bridge in Copenhagen. After several hard years for the regional industry, we wanted to put our collective energy and expertise to work alongside the non-profits already serving the region.

This code of conduct is partially adapted from the one Game Habitat developed for their community, partners and collaborators, and is shared under the same Creative Commons CC-0 licence (public domain). You are free to modify and reuse it without crediting us.

First, what we are and are not

Game Startup Dojo is not a company, a foundation or a registered association. It has no board, no employees, no budget, no membership and no legal existence. It is a few volunteers who organise meetups in their own time, and the people who come to them.

Nobody at Game Startup Dojo can take formal or official responsibility on behalf of an organisation, because there is no organisation to be responsible for. This document is not a complaints procedure. There is no formal reporting function, no investigation process and no person on formal duty.

What this document is: a statement of what we expect from each other, and a plain account of where actual recourse exists when something goes wrong.

When this text says “we” and “us”, it means everyone who takes part — including whoever happens to be organising.

Who this applies to

Anyone at a Game Startup Dojo event, online or in person: attendees, participants, speakers, mentors, organisers, and anyone we collaborate with to put an event on. If you are in the room or in the channel, this is the deal.

Our events are hosted by venues with their own rules and their own staff — MINC in Malmö, among others. Those rules apply on their premises alongside this document.

What we expect of each other

We are kind and respectful

We communicate respectfully and meet others with the kindness we would like to receive. People have different abilities, circumstances and communication styles. We give each other the benefit of the doubt before passing judgment.

Safety for everyone

Physical, mental and sexual safety is a basic right. We oppose harassment, threats and inappropriate behaviour of any kind. Harassment includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment, sexually charged comments, threats, bullying, stalking, intimidation, belittling, and derogatory or mocking speech. Racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, hateful speech and other discriminatory behaviour are not accepted.

We are all responsible

Everyone is responsible for the well-being of the people around them, and for stepping in to stop harassment or other unwanted behaviour where they safely can. When we see or hear something that should be acted on, we act rather than waiting for someone else to.

This falls on all of us equally. It is not delegated to the people who happened to book the room.

With power comes responsibility

Anyone in a position of influence — a speaker, a mentor, an investor, someone who can open a door for a person earlier in their career — carries extra responsibility not to use that position to gain advantage over, groom or exploit anyone. If someone holds us accountable, we listen, and we are prepared to act.

We learn and develop

We try to see other perspectives and to keep an open mind in a charged moment. If you are called out for something, listen to what is being said and be prepared to change. We all have blind spots.

Openness in practice

We have no formal policies, as policies need an organisation to enforce them. What we have are choices and aspirations about how events are run:

Events stay free and open to anyone interested in founding a game startup.
The format stays low-barrier: no polished deck required, no judging panel.
We pay attention to who is on stage and who gets approached to be there.
We listen to what is happening in and around the community, and we are open to being told we are getting this wrong, and adapt accordingly.

If something happens

We are volunteers, and we cannot offer you a formal complaints process. What we can do is be straightforward about where real recourse exists, so that nobody has to work it out alone in the moment.

At the venue. Events happen on someone else’s premises. Venue staff have authority there that we do not — they can remove a person from the building and they have their own procedures. If something is happening now, they are usually the fastest and most effective place to go.
The police. For anything criminal — threats, assault, sexual harassment, stalking — this is the route that carries actual weight. In Sweden: 112 in an emergency, 114 14 otherwise. Nobody needs our permission or involvement to use it.
Your employer. If an incident is connected to your work or a colleague, your employer has duties under the Swedish Work Environment Act that no volunteer meetup has. That is a stronger footing than anything available here.
Someone you trust. Often the most useful first step is simply telling somebody in the community and not carrying it alone.
Whoever is running the event. Anyone organising a room can ask a person to stop, or to leave it, and can decline to invite them back. That is a practical fact about running an event rather than a service being offered, and it is the full extent of the authority that exists here. You are welcome to raise something with them — including with any of the founders, and if your concern is about one of us, with any of the others. We would rather know than not. But please treat it as telling a person who may be able to help, not as filing a report: there is no undertaking here about what happens next, no timeline, and no one whose responsibility it is.

You can also write to hello@gamestartupdojo.com, on the same terms.

If you would rather not involve us at all, that is entirely legitimate and needs no explanation.

It starts with us

Be the change you wish to see, be prepared to listen and learn, and take an active stance. Let’s create a community we can all be proud of.

Glossary

Attendee / participant: Anyone present at or taking part in a Game Startup Dojo event, online or in person.
Code of conduct: A set of shared expectations about behaviour within a community.
Community space: Any shared space where the community gathers, physical or virtual: an event, a workshop, a playtest, our Discord.
Organiser: Whoever is responsible for planning and running a given event.
Collaborator: A person or organisation working with us on a shared event or programme, including venues that host us.

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