Road to Polaris 2025: Hamburg

Gamecity Hamburg's Road to Polaris 2025 program offers Hamburg-based game developers free places at a joint booth at the Polaris community convention, held October 10-12, 2025. The announcement, published July 29, 2025, aims to give local studios feedback and visibility among gaming, e-sports, anime and manga, cosplay, and content creation audiences. Applications were open until August 27, 2025, with all submissions reviewed and decisions communicated shortly after the deadline.

Polaris is presented as a three-day event combining exhibitors and creators with stage shows, tournaments, and workshops, and organizers describe the 2025 edition as larger than prior years following earlier successes. The convention's audience is broader than a traditional games trade show, centering on fan communities and Asian pop culture alongside gaming.

The free booth package includes a table at the Gamecity Hamburg joint booth, necessary hardware, an exhibitor ticket, USK age-rating clearance, and a preparatory workshop run by Gamecity Hamburg. Applicants apply through an online form.

Eligibility is restricted to commercially oriented games companies or developers with headquarters or a branch office in Hamburg. Applicants must have a playable build and a trailer ready for the event, commit to exhibiting on all three days, and have a Steam page live by the time Polaris takes place.

The surrounding page content shows Gamecity Hamburg's wider support ecosystem for the local industry, including Games Lift incubator funding of 15,000 euros per team, prototype funding, a Road to gamescom booth program, Portside Game Assembly networking events, Pitch Level Up, playtest nights, and a Steam sale showcase, alongside local release news.