Goodbye Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub

Gamecity Hamburg announced on June 6, 2024 the closure of its Online Hub, the virtual home for Hamburg's games industry, with a retrospective on what the project achieved. The announcement serves as both a farewell and a look back at the Hub's role during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, framing it as evidence of the strength and adaptability of the local games network.

Launched in May 2021, the Hub was an interactive browser game set in recognizable Hamburg locations, including St. Pauli, the historic harbor and the Speicherstadt. Visitors moved through the space with individually designed avatars, and the platform introduced 60 companies from the city's games ecosystem. Event agency Super Crowd Entertainment supplied the technology, having previously built the "Indie Arena Booth Online" on the same framework, a concept that earned a special prize at the Deutscher Computerspielpreis.

The Gamecity Hamburg Headquarter sat at the center of the digital map and showcased projects funded through the Games Lift and Prototype Funding programs. Team avatars also provided practical information on municipal funding. An online main stage hosted company and institutional presentations, open video calls and networking. Early highlights included the merger of the Gamecity Treff and Hamburg Mobile Summit into one digital event in June 2021, and the relocation of the Creative Gaming Festival PLAY21, including the Creative Gaming Award ceremony, to the Hub. HAW Hamburg also used the platform to present Games Master's final projects and livestream the graduation for families and industry guests.

With the Hub retired, Gamecity Hamburg recommends its official Discord channel for ongoing digital connection with the local industry. The surrounding site content shows continued activity into 2026, including Games Lift and Prototype Funding calls, Portside Game Assembly, and Road to gamescom.