These Five Game Development Teams to Be Funded by Gamecity Hamburg Incubator

Five teams have convinced the Games Lift selection committee of the potential of their games projects. On 9 September, the teams will enter the Games Lift incubator, which will provide them with a year-long workshop and mentoring programme with industry experts, as well as 15,000 Euros in financial support.

A total of 21 teams and individual developers applied for the fifth Games Lift Incubator. The selection committee consisting of Kristin von der Wense (Publishing Producer at Daedalic Entertainment), Ole Schaper (Managing Director of The Sandbox Hamburg, Sviper GmbH), Heiko Gogolin (Managing Director of Rocket Beans Entertainment) and Tobias Graff (Co-Founder, Programmer and CEO of Mooneye Studios) decided on the five participating teams. The Games Lift incubator is organised and run by Gamecity Hamburg on behalf of the City of Hamburg.

Margarete Schneider, Project Manager at Gamecity Hamburg, on the decision of the awarding committee: "We are delighted with the large number of applications for our incubator and the high standard of the pitch decks submitted. It is particularly pleasing that we are receiving more applications from outside Hamburg, who see the city as an attractive location for start-ups. The Games Lift Incubator provides comprehensive start-up support for games start-ups and enables them to make contacts in Hamburg's diverse games scene."

The five projects and teams selected for the 2024 Games Lift Incubator are: - ForeFeathers by Team Honeybeak (a 3D puzzle platformer) - Frisia - Cozy Villages by Rouven Cabanis (village builder on the North Sea coast) - Light of Atlantis by Duck 'n' Run Games (2D puzzle metroidvania) - Pubcrawler by Triflgard (cooperative game about a travelling pub in a post-apocalyptic wasteland) - Tiny Garden by Tales from the Garden (Godgame with a green thumb)

The incubator programme begins with workshops and mentoring sessions on project management, marketing and business start-up. After completing the three-month Phase 1 workshop programme, the teams will present their results to a wider audience in a public final pitch in December 2024. Phase 2 will then begin and run until September 2025. During this phase, selected mentors will work with the teams and provide support as needed throughout the incubator period. The mentors include Manny Hachey (Accelerator Program Director Xsolla), Björn Bergstein (Coach & Consultant for Management and Leadership), Daniel Marx (CEO & Game Director Osmotic Studios), Søren Lass (Founder Tugboat Interactive UG) and Steffen Rühl (Digital and Analogue Games Industry Expert). From 2024, the programme will for the first time include a joint visit of the participants to an international industry event together with Gamecity Hamburg.

In addition to the Games Lift incubator, Gamecity Hamburg also supports developers and games companies from Hamburg with prototype funding for Hamburg. 400,000 Euros are available each year for games projects from Hamburg, of which up to 80,000 Euros can be applied for per game. The next round of applications will start in spring 2025.

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