Education

Start-up: Games-Entrepreneurs

CONTACT

Melanie Fussenegger

Projektleiterin

030/2362589421 write

An educational program aimed at games students and developers for founding indie studios in Berlin and Brandenburg.

FAQ

“Start-up: Games-Entrepreneurs” was launched in 2022 as a pilot project with the aim of providing creatives from the games sector with practical knowledge for their own founding process with the help of industry experts. Having successfully established itself as a contact point for founders of indie studios in Berlin and Brandenburg in recent years, the program became even more attractive to a broader target group by being held in English. “Start-up: Games-Entrepreneurs” will pause in 2025.

The free educational program is aimed at founders from the games industry and is specially tailored to their needs. The program consists of three pillars:

workshops on founding a successful game studio and publishing the first game,
mentoring of the individual teams by industry experts,
networking with other indie developers and within the games industry in general.

The individual workshops take place on working days for a full or half day on site at the Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur or regionally based game studios and institutions in Berlin and Brandenburg. Occasionally, workshops can also take place online.

Impressions from the Kick-off Workshop 2024

Workshop Content

Here is a preliminary overview of the topics covered in the workshops.

START-UP TUTORIAL
What you need to know about founding a company
Company vision, legal questions about founding, taxes.

COLLECTING COINS
How to secure your financing
Forms of financing, business plan, funding opportunities.

FINAL BOSS
What you need to consider when publishing your game
Self-publishing, publishers, pitching, networking.

VISIBILITY BOOST
How to reach your target group
Press relations, social media marketing, community management.

TEAMPLAY
How to lead your team and company successfully
Leadership, team building, project management.

EXTRA LIFE
What moves you
We keep this part open for topics that are also important to you.

Mentoring

The mentoring program is available to participants from July to December 2024. Selected mentors who support the program can be contacted directly by the teams to arrange appointments. Each team has a fixed number of hours available.

These are the mentors for 2024.

Irene Preuss

Independent Game Developer & Game Marketing Specialist

Florian Rohde

Community & Player Support Lead

Yager
LinkedIn

Mona Brandt

Game Designer

Ata Sergey Nowak

Managing Director & Co-Founder of Torpor Games
Advisor at Nowak Advisors

Ruth Lemmen

Interim Management & Coaching

Marcus Grühser

Finance Director & Authorized Signatory at INSTINCT3
CFO at I3 Holding

Mafalda Duarte

Studio Director & Producer at Telescope Game Studios
Ambassador Coordinator for Women in Games
Board Member for IGDA
Founder of Game Dev Lisbon

Attilio Carotenuto

Technical Lead

Unity
LinkedIn

Ulrike Küchler

CEO & Co-Founder

Gamebook Studio
LinkedIn

Michael Liebe

Founder of Booster Space
Outreach Games Europe for Kickstarter

Jaqueline Martin

Founder

Gentleland
LinkedIn

Julian Dasgupta

Project Manager

Airborn Studios
LinkedIn

Marlene Käseberg

Founder & Solo-Developer

Meander Books
LinkedIn

Lukas Brüß

Co-Founder & Technical Director

Deep Sky Games
LinkedIn

Jenni Wergin

Creative Producer

Headup
LinkedIn

Allan Cudicio

Founder & Creative Director

Twin Drums
LinkedIn

Sandro Heuberger

Co-Founder & CEO

Toukana
LinkedIn

Timo Falcke

Co-Founder & Game Director

Toukana
LinkedIn

Timeline

After the kick-off workshops in July, the workshop program will take a summer break in consideration of gamescom. The main part of the program will take place between mid-September and mid-December. The individual dates will be announced as the program progresses.

There will be a joint conclusion to the program in January 2025.

21.05.

2024

Start of the Application Phase

Interested parties can submit their documents via the online form at the bottom of this page until June 24, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

02.07.

2024

Jury Meeting

A jury of representatives from the German games industry will review the application documents received and decide on the teams’ participation in the program.

03.07.

2024

Notification of the Applicants

Applicants will receive feedback on the jury’s decision the day after the jury meeting.

16.07.

2024

Kick-off Workshops - Day 1

The official launch of the program will take place on the premises of the Digital Games Culture Foundation and will offer participants the opportunity to get to know each other in addition to initial content.

17.07.

2024

Kick-off Workshops - Day 2

On the second day, the focus will be on content. In the evening, an informal meeting with the alumni rounds off the kick-off.

21.08.

2024

Start of gamescom

The gamescom in Cologne starts. In cooperation with game – The German Games Industry Association, the teams will receive free trade visitor tickets for gamescom (valid from August 21 to 23).

gamescom

16.09.

2024

Start of the Active Workshop Phase

From this point on, workshops or other events take place almost weekly as part of the program.

14.11.

2024

Start of Games Ground

The Games Ground in Berlin starts. As part of the program, participants will receive festival tickets for Games Ground (valid from 14 to 16 November).

Games Ground

15.11.

2024

Pitch Competition at Games Ground

The teams pitch their projects in front of an audience and a jury.

Price: A Playtesting Voucher by G.Round worth 2500 $.

Winner: THE ROOF Interactive with Seaward

Jury:

Melvin Frank (Product Manager Publishing, INSTINCT3)
Jan Halwe (Business Development Manager, Byterockers’ Games)
Jaqueline Martin (Founder, Gentleland)

23.01.

2025

Conclusion of the Program

The program comes to a close with a final workshop and a joint dinner.

Pitch Competition at Games Ground 2024

Cohorts

These start-up teams have already successfully participated in our program.

2023 Cohort

iceburner art

Members:

Alois Amadeus Eisbrenner

"As a solo developer, it's difficult to keep track of all the other skills required for a smooth founding and subsequent release of the game in addition to game production. The program gives you a good overview and a networking kickstart."

Website
Twitter / X

indiependence

Members:

Jakob Hofmann
Nixon Scherbarth

"We learned an immense amount, were able to gain knowledge and experience that will be a great help to us on our journey and the networking - the exchange with the other teams - was a special highlight for both of us."

Kleene Games

Members:

Daniel Schutko
Philip Hildebrandt
Robin Zitt
Roman Wiegand

"The program gave us the opportunity to expand our previous knowledge and put it into a suitable context. It was very exciting to gain an insight into the Berlin game developer scene and to get to know many new faces."

Linktree

Selkies Interactive

Members:

Daria Pankau
Meike Strippel
Namin Hansen

"The program was an extremely valuable experience for all of us, regardless of where we were in our founding process and how much knowledge we brought with us. In addition to the workshops, we were able to take part in exciting events and really appreciate the fact that we got to meet great people from the industry!"

Linktree

Sentiment Games

Members:

Fabian Kozielski
Pia Seel

"Thanks to the holistic approach of the program, we were able to shed many uncertainties and sharpen our vision with new perspectives. The game and studio benefited from the mentors' experience reports and feedback as well as from the exchange with the other teams."

Twitter / X
Discord

Studio Firlefanz

Members:

Alicia Cofalla
Lion Aurel

"The workshops have initiated important processes in our production, for example in the areas of social media, project management and pitching. Thanks to the many experts and other founders, we have also become much more networked and active in the Berlin games scene. We are delighted to have been part of this great initiative!"

Website

ARIANO Games

Members:

Marian Majewski

"The best basic training for every game developer who wants to start an indie game studio!"

Twitter / X
Steam

Testimonial Video 1

2022 Cohort

Schleuder Games

(formerly Two Eyed Cyclops)

Members:

Lucas Bödeker
Max Bredlau

"The program was exactly what we needed. A great overview of all the topics that were important for founding our company. Especially the direct exchange with the experts for feedback and specific questions was priceless."

Website
Instagram
Twitter / X

Copy Paste Games

Members:

Johannes Dreibach
Julius Peinelt

"One of the best things for us was getting to know other founders - both those who are just starting out and those who are already a little further along."

Website
Twitter / X

Ivy Juice Games

Members:

Linus Gärtig
Gino Georgiev
Vlad Trutniev

"In addition to our studies, the workshops, mentoring sessions and networking events were a kick-start for us in terms of founding and networking in the Berlin games industry. We are happy to be able to look back on many months full of experiences."

Website
Twitter / X

Konsole Game Labs

Members:

Maximilian Knop
Nicole Specht

"Back then, we could only roughly define the framework within which the development of our first game should take place. Thanks to the individual mentoring and the exchange with other teams, we are now a lot closer to our goal."

Website
Twitter / X

WhalesDontFly Studios

Members:

Oscar Freyer
Moritz Hofmann

"Through the 'Start-up: Games Entrepreneurs' program, we got to know inspiring experts from the games industry and made friends with developers who, like us, are still at the beginning of their careers. This has both advanced our studio and opened up completely new perspectives on our own game."

Twitter / X
Instagram

Wunderfax

Members:

Nicolas Maierhöfer
Marius Winter

"The workshops were valuable crash courses in the most important areas of founding a company, while at the same time preparing us for the long road ahead for our first games project. The close connection to the games industry was what we were missing in the usual start-up workshops."

Website
Twitter / X

Testimonial Video 2

Jury

Johanna Janiszewski

Founder & CEO of Tiny Crocodile Studios
Board member at game - German Games Industry Association

Jörg Luibl

Independent Journalist at Spielvertiefung
Editor-in-Chief at GEE

Mai-Vy Thach

Public Affairs Specialist

Ubisoft
LinkedIn

Lorenzo Pilia

Community Manager at Saftladen Indie Games Collective
Founder of BerlinGameScene.com

Valentina Birke

Project Director at Super Crowd Entertainment for Indie Arena Booth
Selection Committee at Wings
Member of the Board of Directors at IGDA
Part of the organisational team of GAME:IN

Thorsten S. Wiedemann

Gründer & Director

A MAZE.
LinkedIn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it cost to participate in the program?

Participation is free of charge for the selected teams.

Who can apply?

Individuals and teams with the intention of founding a company.
Companies that have already been founded but have not yet published a commercially relevant game.
Applicants can belong to all age groups. From students and graduates to career changers, everyone is welcome.
Applications from diverse teams will be given special consideration.

What are the application criteria?