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Recap: Road to Polaris 2022
The Polaris Convention, held in Hamburg from October 28 to 30, 2022, served as a new regional platform for gaming, e-sports, and Asian pop culture.
- The inaugural Polaris Convention in Hamburg (October 28–30, 2022) attracted approximately 10,000 visitors and hosted 150 exhibitors across gaming, e-sports, and Asian pop culture sectors.
- Gamecity Hamburg’s 'Road to Polaris' program provided a free joint booth for five local indie studios: OneManOnMars, Impawsible Games, Beardshaker Games, Curvature Games, and Radioactive Dreams.
- A dedicated networking event, Gamecity Treff, held at the Grüner Jäger music club, drew over 250 industry professionals to foster regional community growth.
Games Lift: Team Marty Aim Outside the Box
Team Marty, an independent game development group based in Hamburg, is currently utilizing the Games Lift incubator program to refine their project, Babsi Bullet.
- Hamburg-based developer Team Marty is pivoting their project, Babsi Bullet, from a mobile-first free-to-play model toward a premium strategy to avoid the saturated mobile market.
- The team is shifting their distribution focus away from traditional app stores, targeting placement in subscription and streaming services like Apple Arcade alongside a planned PC release.
- Babsi Bullet is a 2D platformer featuring unique projectile-based movement mechanics where players navigate levels by tapping on enemies.
Hamburg Games Conference: Invest in Games
The Hamburg Games Conference, held on March 1-2, 2023, at the Altonaer Museum in Hamburg, serves as a premier B2B event for the international games industry.
- The 14th Hamburg Games Conference, held March 1-2, 2023, focused on the theme 'Invest in Games' to address challenges in studio funding and the sustainability of high-value mergers and acquisitions.
- The event returned to a fully on-site format at the Altonaer Museum, moving away from the hybrid and digital models used during the previous two years.
- The conference utilized a dual-track structure to connect creative development with financial viability, covering topics such as public funding, private investment strategies, and digital marketing best practices.
Gamecity Hamburg 2022 in Review
The 2022 review for Gamecity Hamburg highlights a pivotal year of recovery and growth for the local games industry, marked by the return of in-person events and the continued expansion of regional support programs.
- Gamecity Hamburg distributed 398,000 euros in Prototype Funding to six specific game development projects in 2022.
- The Games Lift Incubator provided funding, mentorship, and professional development to five development teams.
- The Hamburg Games Conference returned as a hybrid event, attracting over 600 international attendees.
Hamburg Games Conference 2023: 30+ Speakers, Panels, Networking and More
The Hamburg Games Conference 2023, held on March 1 and 2 at the Altonaer Museum, served as a central hub for the German and international games industry to address critical topics in investment, development, and marketing.
- The Hamburg Games Conference 2023, held March 1–2 at the Altonaer Museum, convened over 30 speakers to address investment, development, and marketing strategies for the global games industry.
- The event featured two primary tracks: a main track focused on 'Invest in Games' and a secondary track dedicated to funding, development, and marketing.
- Key industry discussions centered on the long-term sustainability of independent studios, recent market mergers and acquisitions, and the implementation of salary transparency.
Meet the Road to Hamburg Games Conference Indie Teams: 2023
The "Road to Hamburg Games Conference" initiative serves to bolster the local independent game development sector by providing Hamburg-based studios with professional exposure at major industry events.
- The 'Road to Hamburg Games Conference' initiative provides selected local indie studios with free exhibition space at major industry events to facilitate business growth, networking, and investment opportunities.
- Five Hamburg-based studios were selected for the 2023 program: Bagpack Games, DrownTown, Beardshaker Games, Crumbling Games, and Denise Koch.
- The 2023 cohort showcased a diverse portfolio of projects, including We the Valarii (multiplayer), Lights of Atlantis (puzzle-exploration), Soulitaire (card-based narrative), Crumbling (VR roguelike), and Monstersongs VR (musical-adventure).
Recap: Hamburg Games Conference 2023
The 2023 Hamburg Games Conference served as a pivotal nexus for the international gaming sector, successfully transitioning back to a fully in-person format.
- The 2023 Hamburg Games Conference hosted 500 business professionals from 25 countries and 600 public attendees, re-establishing the city as a primary European hub for game development.
- The event facilitated 300 structured business meetings focused on navigating modern financial complexities, including investment strategies, M&A trends, and diverse funding mechanisms.
- Industry experts utilized the commercial success of titles like Dome Keeper and Stumble Guys to demonstrate effective growth trajectories and viability for independent projects.
Road to gamescom 2023: Hamburg
The Road to gamescom 2023 program, initiated by Gamecity Hamburg, serves to support local game developers by providing them with a platform at the world’s largest video game event.
- Gamecity Hamburg provides five selected local studios or independent developers with free exhibition space at the Indie Arena Booth during gamescom.
- The program supports participants with exhibitor passes, USK age-rating assistance, inclusion in official sales events, and a preparatory workshop day.
- To be eligible, applicants must be based in Hamburg, possess a playable project, and currently operate without a publisher.
Games Lift Insights 2023: Workshop with Cassia Curran
The Games Lift Insights workshop, held in May 2023, served as a strategic educational initiative for independent game developers based in Hamburg.
- The Games Lift Incubator program in Hamburg provides independent studios with financial assistance, mentorship, and a structured curriculum to improve commercial viability.
- The May 2023 workshop led by Cassia Curran focused on teaching indie developers how to apply market analysis and analytical calculations to their game design and business strategies.
- Gamecity Hamburg aims to increase the success rate of early-stage studios by bridging the gap between creative development and data-driven market positioning.
Prototype Funding 2023: 410,000 Euros for 6 Projects from Hamburg
Gamecity Hamburg allocated 410,000 euros in 2023 to support the development of six digital game prototypes. This initiative aims to foster innovation and market potential among Hamburg-based companies and start-ups.
- Gamecity Hamburg distributed 410,000 euros in 2023 to fund the development of six digital game prototypes from local studios.
- Amberdive Interactive, Tiny Roar, and Curvature Games each received 80,000 euros for their respective projects: METACORE, Project Renaissance, and Reddie – ReRun of Reality.
- DrownTown and Godcomplex Games were awarded 70,000 euros each for Light of Atlantis and Stack 'Em Up, while Beardshaker Games received 30,000 euros for How to Find Friends.
Radioactive Dreams Releases Turbo Shell: Funding Review
The release of the precision platformer Turbo Shell by the Hamburg-based indie studio Radioactive Dreams marks the successful culmination of a regional development initiative.
- Hamburg-based studio Radioactive Dreams successfully launched the precision platformer Turbo Shell on May 23, 2023, following a three-year development cycle.
- The project was supported by Gamecity Hamburg, which provided critical prototype funding in 2020 to facilitate the studio's transition from concept to commercial release.
- Turbo Shell features a core gameplay mechanic called the Egg Propulsion System, which replaces traditional controls with a high-speed movement system based on pushing and pulling the protagonist.
Gamecity Hamburg and Hamburg Game Studios at Gamescom 2023
Gamecity Hamburg facilitates the participation of local independent game studios at Gamescom 2023, held in Cologne from August 23 to 27.
- Gamecity Hamburg supported five independent studios—About Cannons + Sparrows, Crumbling Games, DrownTown, Radioactive Dreams, and Symmetry Break Studio—at Gamescom 2023 through the 'Road to Gamescom' program.
- The initiative provided selected indie developers with free delegation packages and exhibition space at the Indie Arena Booth to facilitate international business connections.
- Several participating indie studios previously utilized local support mechanisms, specifically the Games Lift Incubator and regional prototype funding, to reach the Gamescom exhibition stage.