GamesMarkt

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**GamesMarkt: Who are you addressing with the Portside Game Assembly?** 
**Margarete Schneider:** Portside Game Assembly will be a B2B event build around a conference with a curated guest list of indie studio leaders. We are looking particularly at established indie studios - in other words, indie studios who have already released titles and achieved a certain level of success. In addition, there will be a Networking Brunch and a big Games Industry Party that are open for all games industry contacts and enable them to meet and mingle with the attendees of the conference.

**Why did you decide to focus on these studios?** 
One reason lies in the current situation in the games industry: As we all know, times are difficult at the moment. Over the last year and a half, layoffs and studio closures have been in the news far too often. But there have also been success stories, and the most inspiring ones came from indie studios.

We also believe that these indie studios represent the best side of the games industry. They are incredibly creative on the one hand, and on the other, they have a lot of freedom to make decisions and express that creativity. The studios we want to take a closer look at have already borne fruit with that.

![Speaker Line-up for Portside Game Assenbly. Picture by Gamecity Hamburg](https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/zone.busch.store.image/b37186c1-7c89-43d2-870b-aa413f26ac39.jpg)

We at Gamecity Hamburg are well-connected and talk to many people from the industry from very different backgrounds. In our conversations, we learned that indie studio founders in particular benefit significantly from exchanging ideas with like-minded people, i.e. with companies and individuals who are in a similar position. This is because they can talk to each other on an equal footing. They can build on this to support and advise each other, or even provide confidential insights into sales figures, strategies and so forth. The sense of companionship and cooperation among these studios is much stronger than the sense of competition – which is another factor that makes this group of people ideal for an event that focusses on exchange, networking and knowledge transfer.

**What else had already been decided for the event?** 
We knew that we wanted to organize an international B2B event. We also knew that we had to create an event that stood out from the rest, because the games industry's event calendar is incredibly busy all year round. To effectively pull an audience to Hamburg, we knew we had to offer a real benefit.

One of our USPs is therefore that the event is extremely tailored to its target group, i.e. independent studios that have achieved initial success. The core component of Portside Assembly is the conference program, which is specifically designed to studio directors. That’s the reason why we decided against selling tickets openly, and for keeping a curated attendee list. It is not our goal to attract large crowds. On the contrary, we want to gather a shipload of like-minded people, and we want each one of them to be an interesting contact for one another.

> "There is an ongoing open discussion and exchange with the large companies in Hamburg, which is extremely important to us for understanding the needs of the industry. At the same time, we focus on using our resources to support the indie sector and the promotion of young talent in particular." - Margarete Schneider

Another USP regarding the program is that we not only tailor it very specifically in terms of content, but also make it particularly active. We won't have 45-minute lectures where you might find yourself drifting off and end up not taking in as much as you'd hoped. That's why our talk pogram consists of short and sharp impulse talks that don't last longer than 5 to 10 minutes, and are complemented with an extensive discussion blocks that include the whole audience.

The third major USP is the experience factor. We made a conscious decision not to host everything at an exhibition center or in a hotel lobby. Instead, we will be travelling around Hamburg, visiting different locations for the individual parts of the event and, above all, being on a ship. The ship concept also stems from the idea of setting sail together and then being cut off from everything else for the duration of the voyage, focusing on the group you are travelling with while the program is running.

![](https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/zone.busch.store.image/aa41c1f3-bc18-4e89-8b5d-0e5da27d7118.jpg)

**But the event itself goes beyond the conference on the ship?** 
Yes, Portside Games Assembly has various components that revolve around the target group of indie developers. The conference on the afternoon of June 27 is definitely a central part of the event, but since it is very important to us to include a broader group of games industry people, we have planned a big networking brunch prior to the conference program. All participants from the ship will be there, and we are also inviting publishers, games industry peers, and indies who are still in the early stages of development who can gain inspiration and mentoring from the more established indie devs.

And, as we all know, the greatest benefit of events often comes from parties. So, we will be hosting a Games Industry Party, inviting the entire Hamburg games industry, from students and start-ups to employees of the big Hamburg games companies – happening on a second even bigger boat that anchors in the HafenCity.

**How has the industry responded to the plans?** 
We are very pleased that we have received tremendously positive feedback since last gamescom, where we presented the idea to chosen contacts and gathered more input on the concept of Portside Game Assembly. Among Portside’s attendees are Hamburg-based studios, registrations from all over Germany and Europe, and even from the USA and Canada. People are travelling halfway across the world to Hamburg to be part of the event, and that's exactly what we were hoping and working hard for.

> "It is not our goal to attract large crowds. On the contrary, we want to gather a shipload of like-minded people, and we want each one of them to be an interesting contact for one another." - Margarete Schneider


**Hamburg has quite a few events. Why have a separate date and a standalone event, and not in combination with other events?** 
Polaris, as a fast-growing B2C event, for example, has a quite different target audience. The overlap between the people exhibiting at Polaris and those we will have at Portside Game Assembly is not large, at least not yet. It could, of course, be a first step, especially for international visitors, to become aware of the City of Hamburg and what it has to offer in terms of gaming. But for now, we're starting the Portside Game Assembly with a very strong focus, and we will see in the future whether other Hamburg events might be exciting for this target group. 

**Would it make sense to design a joint umbrella event? Other cities and regions are doing something similar with great success.** 
It's true, of course, that there is always potential for synergy with concepts like this, but for the premiere edition of Portside Game Assembly, it's very important to us to keep things focused at least in the beginning. The communication effort might even be greater, if two different events are running in parallel. And while Polaris and the PLAY Festival both are set on autumn dates, we deliberately chose summer for Portside Game Assembly – after all, standing on the sun deck of a ship in late June plays a major role in the experience factor.

![This ship will host the conference. Picture by Björn Weinbrand](https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/zone.busch.store.image/56096b57-1cca-4792-9eb3-422b90f5b867.jpg)

**Hamburg is one of Germany's top locations, but it has the lowest funding budget, at least for project funding. How important is it for you to offer added value that goes beyond purely monetary support, especially through such innovative events and campaigns?** 
That's definitely a huge factor, not only at Portside Game Assembly, but also at our other events such as Pitch Level Up, which is aimed more at studios working on their first title, or the Games Lift Incubator, which includes financial support of 15,000 euros, but the main benefit lies in the intensive workshop and mentoring program to prepare companies for the next steps in the industry. We can also see how this is bearing fruit. As far as we know, Hamburg was the most strongly represented federal state in the selection for the Press Start start-up grant program. Many of the recipients were in our incubator program before. This shows that they know how to pitch their games. 

**In addition to indie developers, some of the largest companies in the German games industry are also based in Hamburg. How important are InnoGames & Co. for you?** 
There is an ongoing open discussion and exchange with the large companies in Hamburg, which is extremely important to us for understanding the needs of the industry. At the same time, we focus on using our resources to support the indie sector and the promotion of young talent in particular. Projects such as the School Internship Games are proof of how well cooperation between games companies and other institutions works in the context of joint projects in Hamburg.

> "We made a conscious decision not to host everything at an exhibition center or in a hotel lobby. Instead, we will be travelling around Hamburg, visiting different locations for the individual parts of the event and, above all, being on a ship." - Margarete Schneider

**How do you rate the support you receive from politicians in Hamburg? Compared to Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, Hamburg's politicians tend to be rather reticent when it comes to making public statements on gaming issues...** 
Politicians in Hamburg have had their eye on the games industry for over 20 years and provide us with enormous support. They might seem more reserved in a typically Nordic way, but politicians talk to the Hamburg games industry on an equal footing. Our contacts see what we do, are interested in our programs, and know what is important for the industry. This appreciation is also evident in the fact that the industry is invited to the Senator's Round Table every year and that the industry was invited to City Hall for the 20th anniversary of Gamecity Hamburg. Many other industries only receive this honour after a way longer time.

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Portside Game Assembly is About Exchanging Ideas With Like-Minded People