Profile
Founded in 2003, Gamecity Hamburg is the contact point for Hamburg’s games funding, the Games Lift Incubator and also offers programs, events, and services to strengthen local game developers. At the same time, the exchange of knowledge within the sector and with other industries is promoted. Gamecity Hamburg is part of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft and funded by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
As games and content city, Hamburg actively shapes the transformation of the media and digital industry. Four of the ten largest German game companies (Bigpoint, Gamigo, Goodgame Studios, InnoGames, in alphabetical order) according to the number of employees in Germany were founded and have their headquarters in the Gamecity Hamburg. And it is not without reason that leading internet giants such as Google, Facebook, Adobe, Dropbox, and Twitch, decided to choose Hamburg for headquarters in Germany.
The promotion of young talent, the development of new formats that activate the strong network of games companies in the city, and internationalization are the focus of Gamecity Hamburg’s activities.
Since 2020, there has been a new prototype funding program in Hamburg, which supports the development of computer games with 400,000 euros per year. The new funding is intended to contribute to increasing the quality, market opportunities and diversity of computer games developed in Hamburg and, as startup financing, to support founders, startups and companies.
Gamecity Hamburg started in 2020 the additional incubation program „Games Lift“ to support game makers financially but above all with mentoring as well as workshops and coaching offers for developing concepts and demos for computer games with high market potential.
Mission
Gamecity Hamburg supports, connects and makes the games hub Hamburg visible. The aim is to improve the general conditions for companies and founders of the games value chain in the city, to support them in their further development and to anchor Hamburg in the public perception as one of the leading games locations in Europe and Germany.
Activities
- Providing optimal local support to both new and established companies
- Funding of digital game prototypes with an annual funding volume of 400.000 euros
- Support of startups and young talent with the Games Lift Incubator with an annual funding volume of 120.000 euros
- Networking and knowledge transfer with Gamecity Meet-ups, Game Starter events, Workshops, Indie Meet-ups and the annual Hamburg Games Conference
- Communication through own as well as external channels such as website, newsletters, social media and targeted press relations
- Joint activities at important games industry events such as gamescom and other conferences as well as “Road to important fairs programs” for startups and young talent