Games Lift: These five teams join the incubator for game developers in Hamburg in 2022
With their convincing pitches, five teams from Hamburg have proven the promising potential of their game projects to the Games Lift awarding committee. From September 12, they will be part of the Games Lift Incubator program – a funding and support opportunity for game makers that is unique in Germany. The incubator will support the teams with a three-month workshop and mentoring program with international industry experts, 15,000 euros in financial support, and desks at a co-working space in Hamburg.
More than 30 experts in game design, product development, pitching, business development, public relations, and marketing from the Games Lift Network share their experience with the teams to give the game projects professional support in reaching their first big milestones. The Games Lift Incubator is organized and implemented by the location initiative Gamecity Hamburg on behalf of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
A total of 21 teams and solo developers applied for this third round of the Games Lift Incubator. The decision on the five participating teams was made by the awarding committee, consisting of Mareike Ottrand (Founder Studio Fizbin & Professor of Interactive Illustration and Games HAW Hamburg), Ole Schaper (CEO & CTO Sviper), Wolf Lang (CEO Super Crowd), Amanda Förtsch (Project Manager Gamecity Hamburg) and Jens Unrau (Head of Department Media and Digital Economy of the Ministry of Culture and Media in Hamburg).
Mareike Ottrand on the awarding committee’s decision: “This year, both the number and the quality of the applications received were particularly high. We are impressed by the passion and quality of the pitches. Hamburg has a large pool of talented aspiring games start-ups and graduates. In the incubator, the five selected teams can now show what they are capable of and continue to refine their game projects with the help of the mentors.”
The five projects and teams in the Games Lift Incubator 2022:
- About Cannons + Sparrows by ACAS
- Babsi Bullet by Team Marty
- Evergreen Garden by Elin Meinecke
- METACORE by Team Metacore
- Stack’em up by Team Godcomplex
Introducing the five game projects:
About Cannons + Sparrows by ACAS is a physics-based puzzle platformer with story-driven genre twists and an ever-evolving character in the form of a miniature cannon.
Babsi Bullet by Team Marty is a fun tap-and-shoot game designed for touchscreens, where shooting means moving: Babsi “half teenager, half pistol” Bullet moves through the levels as a projectile.
Evergreen Garden by Elin Meinecke is a captivating farming simulation role-playing game with puzzle elements and a strong focus on natural gardening.
METACORE by Team Metacore is a co-op action first-person shooter for 1-4 players with a focus on teamwork and synergy effects the players create through an arsenal of unique weapons and gadgets.
Stack’em up by Team Godcomplex is a party game (online or local) where 2-6 players fight their way through crazy maps turn by turn, trying not to get devoured by their opponents amid the mayhem.
The Games Lift Incubator program offers extensive workshops, mentoring, and coaching sessions to meet the specific needs of the developers. The schedule includes workshops and mentoring sessions on project management, marketing, founding a business, and, for the first time, a workshop on game art.
After three months, the teams present their progress to a broad audience in the final public pitch in December 2022. But this doesn’t mark the end of the program: For another 12 months, the teams will receive support through individual coaching sessions and a PR agency specializing in indie games.
These experts are, among others, involved in this year’s Games Lift Incubator: André Bernhard (IndieAdvisor), Christiane Gehrke (FACTORY-C), Christopher Wulf (Business Development Consultant), Christopher Kellner (astragon entertainment), Daniel Marx (Osmotic Studios), Heather Chandler (Heather Makes Games), Irene Preuss (Happy Broccoli Games), Jörg Luibl (Spielvertiefung.de), Stephan Beier (Deep Silver FISHLABS), Steffen Rühl (Rühl Gameconsult).
This trailer video gives a quick overview of the Games Lift Incubator’s concept: https://youtu.be/WcitJbyik8g
Further funding programs by Gamecity Hamburg
In addition to the Games Lift Incubator, Gamecity Hamburg supports developers and games companies from Hamburg with its Prototype Funding program. Each year, 400,000 euros are available for game projects from Hamburg, of which up to 120,000 euros can be applied for per game. The next application round will start in spring 2023.
All information on Prototype Funding can be found at https://www.gamecity-hamburg.de/funding/.
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