Gamecity Hamburg celebrating 20th anniversary this year

17 April 2023

Plenty of analogous and digital events to mark occasion

Launched in 2003 as Germany's first public funding institution for the games industry, Gamecity Hamburg is the flagship of the industry in Europe and employs around 2,500 people in over 190 companies in Hamburg alone. Gamecity Hamburg offers SMEs and larger companies various support schemes and is now gearing up to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Hamburg among top games locations

"Hamburg is one of the top locations for the games industry. We owe this to a highly creative network in the city that recognised the importance of the games industry early and developed the vision of a 'Gamecity'," said Dr Carsten Brosda, Senator for Culture and Media, adding: "We have created a suitable environment for the games industry over the last 20 years via Gamecity." The industry will continue to grow in Hamburg thanks to a large network as well as great training and further education opportunities, Brosda pointed out. At present, Gamecity Hamburg's backing comes in the form of Prototype Support and a Games Lift Incubator for which EUR 520,000 are made available every year. Several events such as the international Hamburg Games Conference and various events for exchanging and transferring knowledge are held regularly.

Industry to meet at "Gamecity Treff"

"Hamburg recognised the potential of the games industry early on and created Gamecity, a groundbreaking games promotion scheme," said Egbert Rühl, Managing Director of Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft, which has been responsible for Gamecity Hamburg since 2018. "Gamecity and the entire games ecosystem are striving successfully to expand Hamburg as a games centre and to prepare it for the future," he added. This includes the regular Gamecity Treff, which will be held as an anniversary event on May 24, 2023. Later on October 13, 2023, the "Gamecity Treff meets Polaris" event will be held as part of the Polaris Convention for Games, E-Sports and Asian Pop Culture.

Anniversary video outlines history of games industry

Gamecity Hamburg is holding all kinds of analogous events and digital activities during its anniversary year. Movers and shakers in the games industry will be presented on its channels starting with an anniversary video with experts. During the YouTube video, they will review the development of the games industry in Hamburg. Public events are also being planned.

nj/mm/sb/pb