A lift can be a peculiar thing. It only comes when it’s called, people have to cram into a small cabin, and then everyone has to stand clear of the doors. But once it is moving, you can feel the acceleration! That’s how it feels in our second round of Games Lift. All teams are aboard and in good spirits.

The first round of financial support has been payed out, workshops are in full swing and mentors have already mentored. For the next couple of months, our teams are looking at a lot of work. Now is the time for them to work out their projects, to refine concepts and ideas; for some of them, the new coworking space will afford a more comfortable setting. But the workshops keep bringing a steady stream of new topics and suggestions. They take time. Also, the incubator has deadlines. We are doing our best in order to keep the work manageable for everyone.

Teams need space

We strive to keep improving our Games Lift Incubator every year. In this second edition, some changes are already in effect; we will talk about details at a later date. What we want to keep is our keen focus on the teams. Everything revolves around their needs and interests. Their input was an important part of deciding on a workshop schedule.

Meeting the teams in person at the kick-off event was our first highlight. A lot of our workshops are digital-only, not least because of the pandemic. But in and around the spacious designxport location in Hamburg’s Hafencity district, we got to look each other in the eyes. Without delay!

A wide selection

The projects may be wildly different, yet all of their creators were upbeat and warm. The anticipation was palpable. And the diversity was not only visible in the projects.

SUPERNATURAL GAMES bring a lot of experience to the table. Gerrit and Patrick have worked in the design and games industries for decades. They don’t just have a game project, they are also full of ideas of how to expand from there. When “The Treepoids and the Island of Professor Flora“ is done, it might just turn out to be part of a wave of green gaming.

Kevin and Timo are veterans of software development too. Their project „supernightshift“ aims to build on their experience visualizing traffic and GPS data. The usefulness of this kind of know-how was evident when Kevin arrived at the event first without breaking a sweat.

Symmetry Break Games present the biggest team of this year’s incubator. Anca, Franziska, Jan, Cecilia and Julian all count as young talent. They might have lowered the average age at the event, but their concept was all the more impressive for it. “PROSPECTOR” aims to shake up good old graphic adventures with innovative ideas around dialogue and storytelling.

Denise Koch keeps impressing us as the dauntless visionary and driver behind a highly original idea: „Monstersongs VR“ is a VR rock musical. The concept might sound wild – but when she explains how she plans development with her network of talented contractors, it actually sounds self-evident and doable.

Martin, Timo and Stephen of tool1 are also really good at explaining a wild concept. They eloquently fielded questions around their loot-shooter „The Invitation”. They could even explain how they managed to start such an ambitious project with just three people on the dev team.

It’s on now!

In the coming weeks, we will get to take a closer look at what’s changed in this year’s Games Lift Incubator. We will also peek into a workshop or two. But above all, we are looking forward to presenting the projects and people behind them.

For them, Games Lift is already in full swing. Industry veteran Heather Chandler, former senior producer of Fortnite, has already given valuable insight into the wide ranging fields of producing and project management. We are happy to have her aboard. And some especially successful workshops from last year make a return. Michael Schieben’s Product Field is a sought-after tool for cooperative innovation and analysis. He explained it himself in order to show how it gets people talking and thinking along the same lines.

The input may prove crucial for our teams. The Games Lift Incubator is all about enabling them to identify the next step and to actually make it. The next couple of months will be moving along at top speed.