400.000 euros for games "Made in Hamburg

From 3 March to 5 April, founders, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can apply for Gamecity Hamburg 's prototype funding . Applicants can apply for up to 120,000 euros for the development of a digital game. Gamecity Hamburg, on behalf of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, will provide a total of 400,000 euros for game developers through the funding programme in 2023.

Funding is provided for 80 percent of the eligible costs for the creation of prototypes of digital games. If no cumulation with another public funding programme (such as the federal government's computer games funding or EU funds) is sought, a maximum of 80,000 euros can be applied for. In the case of planned cumulation with other funding programmes, projects can be funded with up to 120,000 euros. All information on funding can be found on the Gamecity Hamburg website: https: //gamecity-hamburg.de/de/foerderung/.

The application procedure

Eligible to apply for prototype funding are:

• Developers and developer associations
• or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• who are based in Hamburg
• or who are relocating their headquarters to Hamburg
• or are opening a branch/operating facility in Hamburg.

A consultation with Gamecity Hamburg is mandatory and recommended no later than two weeks before the submission deadline, 22 March, in order to optimally prepare applicants for the application. Interested parties should contact to arrange an appointment.

The awarding committee consisting of Nina Müller (Head of Publishing, Goodgame Studios), Jonas Hüsges (Publishing Director, Daedalic Entertainment), Valentina Birke (Head of Project, Indie Arena Booth), Jens Unrau (Head of Department Media and Digital Economy of the Ministry of Culture and Media in Hamburg) and Dennis Schoubye (Head of Gamecity Hamburg) will decide on the awarding of the funding after the end of the application phase on 3 May on the basis of the applications and a subsequent pitch by the applicants.

All further information on the application, a comprehensive FAQ, required templates and the link to the online application can be found at: https://www.gamecity-hamburg.de/foerderung/bewerbung/.

Projects funded through prototype funding

Since the beginning of the first funding round in 2020, the prototype funding has so far supported 21 games projects with more than 1,120,000 euros. Among the funding recipients are, for example, the indie studio Tiny Roar, which received prototype funding in 2022 for its dreamlike worldbuilder game "Wanderful" and was able to enter into a partnership with Hamburg-based developer and publisher Daedalic Entertainment in the same year. The serious game "Mambio" by neurodactics, an educational software for primary school children to make arithmetic understandable for all children, received prototype funding in 2021 and was able to secure additional funding of over 1,100,000 million euros from the federal government's computer games funding programme in 2022.

All previous funding recipients and teams can be found on the website: https://gamecity-hamburg.de/foerderung/#Alle_Projekte