PLAY21: Restart Together

The PLAY21 festival, held in November 2021, served as a hybrid gaming event designed to foster community reconnection under the theme "Restart Together." Building on a tradition established in 2008, the festival integrated in-person programming in Hamburg with a virtual environment known as PLAYvalley. This dual-format approach aimed to expand the festival’s reach beyond local geographic boundaries, ensuring accessibility for a broader audience during a period of transition for public events.

The program functioned as a multidisciplinary platform, combining gaming, education, and industry discourse through a series of interactive exhibitions, workshops, and talks. A central component of the event was the Creative Gaming Awards, which recognized excellence in the industry through two specific categories: Most Creative Game and Most Innovative Newcomer. These awards highlighted the festival's commitment to celebrating both artistic vision and technical ingenuity within the gaming sector.

Gamecity Hamburg acted as a primary sponsor for the initiative, further supporting the event by hosting nominee games and additional activities on its proprietary Gamecity Online Hub. By facilitating this hybrid experience, the organizers sought to maintain the festival's role as a vital hub for gaming culture, providing a space for both public engagement and professional recognition within the Hamburg games industry.