Starting in September, the five aspiring teams will be supported with 15,000 euros each in funding as well as a three-months long workshop and mentoring program to turn their ideas into high-quality games projects.

In Games Lift, the up-and-coming developers will work together with over 30 international coaches and experts on their projects and on successful entry into the professional games industry.

A total of 16 project teams applied for the first Games Lift in July. The Games Lift awarding committee agreed on a pre-selection of teams, which were invited to an online pitch of their projects.

After intensive discussions, the awarding committee, consisting of Anne Beuttenmüller (Director Marketing EMEA Niantic, Inc.), Tobias Kringe (Founder Bytro Labs), Wolf Lang (CEO Super Crowd Entertainment), Margarete Schneider (Project Manager Gamecity Hamburg) and Jens Unrau (Head of the Media and Digital Industry Department at the Ministry of Culture and Media in Hamburg) decided to sponsor five projects in the first Games Lift Batch.

The five projects and teams of the first Games Lift Batch:

•  Alchymia by Julia Reberg
• Crumbling by Team Crumbling
• Leif's Adventure: Netherworld Hero by OneManOnMars
• Luna Park by Curvature Games
• Ninja Brigade by Impawsible Games

The high quality of the selected projects and the wide range of genres from VR games to imaginative platformers to an economy simulation convinced the awarding committee, and once more highlights the diversity and high potential of Hamburg's developer scene.

In addition to start-up financing during the three-month incubator period and support through a comprehensive coaching and mentoring program, the teams will receive access to a co-working space. The teams will start with the first workshops on September 7, 2020. In December, the projects and the progress made in the incubator will be presented in a public final pitch.

The following experts have already been confirmed for the Games Lift program, among others:

Andreas Suika (EPIC Games), Anne Beuttenmüller (Niantic, Inc.), Arno Heinisch (Rocket Beans Entertainment), Dr. Christian Rauda (GRAEF Rechtsanwälte), Ed Valiente (Thunderful Publishing), Jan Taaks (Overhype Studios ), Jan Theysen (KING Art), Jan Wilfarth (allaboutHRlaw), Jan-Peter Ewert (Valve), Johan Toresson (Raw Fury), Jörg Luibl (4players. de), Linda Rendel (Ubisoft), Markus Windelen (Six Foot), Marta Adamska (GOG), Martina Santoro (EPIC Games), Michael Schade (ROCKFISH Games), Michael Schieben (Product Field Works), Rebecca Lautner (Landfall Games), Stefan Walter (InnoGames), Steffen Rühl (Rühl Gameconsult), Tobias Kringe (Bytro Labs), Wolf Lang (Super Crowd).