The time has finally come for the Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub. We are closing the virtual home for Hamburg's games industry on our Gamecity Hamburg website and take a look back at the Hub's golden age: Goodbye Hub, we had a great ride! You can watch the Goodbye-Video here:

Start in May 2021

Launched in May 2021, in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic, the Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub offered the Hamburg games industry network a digital home in form of an interactive browser game. A perfect opportunity to network in times of social distancing and widespread home office conditions.  In an authentic Hamburg setting, the Hub invited visitors to take a digital stroll through St. Pauli, the historic harbor, the Speicherstadt and other characteristic Hamburg locations - and playfully introduced a variety of 60 companies from the Hanseatic city's games ecosystem.  

A unique Browsergame 

But its visitors also gave the Hub a very personal touch with their individually designed avatars, which were able to move freely through the digital world. Digital events, for which the Online Hub provided an online main stage, provided the necessary variety. This stage not only provided background information on companies and educational institutions, but also featured open video calls and presentations that invited people to chat freely with each other. The technical framework was provided by the event agency Super Crowd Entertainment, which had already implemented the digital exhibition concept of the "Indie Arena Booth Online" based on the same technology and was therefore awarded a special prize as part of the Deutscher Computerspielpreis.  

Display of Funded Games

At the center of the digital city map stood the Gamecity Hamburg Headquarter. Here, the funded projects of the Gamecity Hamburg programs Games Lift and Prototype Funding were presented to the digital public. Visitors were not only able to keep up to date with the concepts and development progress, but also received lots of practical information about the City of Hamburg's games funding programs from the digital avatars of the Gamecity team members. 

Online Events & Networking

The first highlight of the Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub followed shortly after the launch in June 2021 when the Gamecity Treff and the Hamburg Mobile Summit merged into one digital event - and made the Hub the place to be for Hamburg industry members. The Creative Gaming Festival PLAY21 also moved to the Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub for that year - featuring a typical convention atmosphere and program, including the award ceremony of the Creative Gaming Award. 

However, not only companies and events, but also educational institutions such as the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) joined the Hub and for example presented the final work of the Games Master's program on the digital stage. In addition to the presentation of their final projects, the graduation itself was also broadcasted via livestream, allowing not only industry members but also friends and family members of the students to share this special moment. 

Thank you and Goodbye

The Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub revealed what makes Hamburg's games industry so unique: a strong network looking for new, digital ways and solutions to connect, help each other and grow together, even in times of unprecedented social challenges. Strengthened by this certainty, Gamecity Hamburg says "Thank you and farewell!" to the Online Hub and looks forward to the future.   

For all those who wish to maintain a digital connection to Hamburg's games industry in the future, the official Gamecity Hamburg Discord channel is particularly recommended.