More initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
De
More initiatives of the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft

Hamburg Games Conference 2023: First Speakers announced

The Hamburg Games Conference returns on March 1 & 2, 2023 with the topic "Invest in Games". Now the first games industry experts are confirmed, who will share insights and best practices in talks, keynotes and panels around the main topic, as well as on dev, funding and start-up topics.

After two years of hybrid and digital editions, the Hamburg Games Conference will now again take place as an on-site-only event at the Altonaer Museum in Hamburg. Tickets  at the discounted Early Bird price are available until January 12, 2023. As always, there will also be ample opportunity to network and meet old and new faces from the international industry. 

For the main conference track "Invest in Games", multiple talks have already been confirmed, providing insights and best practices on investments and M&A deals from the perspective of founders as well as investing companies and M&A advisors:

  • Janosch Kühn and Daniel Stammler (founders of Kolibri Games / BLN Capital), will give the talk "Kolibri Story - From student dorm to multi-million dollar exit in 4 years", sharing experiences from founding their own studio and their successful exit. 
  • Maarten de Koning (Executive Vice President at DDM, a consulting firm specializing in games) will speak about the most important basic rules for successful deals in his presentation "10 Golden Rules to Avoid Investment and M&A Disaster". 
  • Arnd Benninghoff (EVP of Gaming at Modern Times Group) will give insights into the successful M&A strategy of the Swedish company that acquired, among others, InnoGames from Hamburg, Kongregate, Hutch and PlaySimple.
  • Michael Schade (CEO and co-founder of Hamburg-based studio Rockfish Games) will look back on the successful self-financing of Everspace 2 through crowdfunding, early access and licensing deals in his talk "How to Self-fund a 20 Million Euro Space Looter-Shooter".
  • Frank Zahn (Delivery Director & Managing Director at technology consulting and software company Endava) recaps his learnings and experience selling the digital agency Exozet, which he founded, to Endava in his talk "Lessons Learned on Selling my Company".
  • Christof Wegmann (Founder & CTO at Exit Games / Photon Engine) will give an overview of success factors and lessons learned in the development of the mobile hit Stumble Guys in his post-mortem talk "Stumbling into a Global Hit Downloaded 2 Million Times per Day".

Several speakers are also already on board for the second track, which will focus on the topics of funding, development and start-ups:

  • Linda Rendel (Production Director and founder of FemDevMeetup) will talk about "Production Leadership - How to be an authentic lead and build trusting relationships with your team", sharing insights as well as tools for authentic leadership.
  • René Habermann (founder and developer at Bippinbits) will share with the conference audience in a post-mortem his learnings from the development and successful marketing of the indie hit Dome Keeper, which raised over a million euros after just one day of release.  
  • Brothers Jan and Paul Taaks (founders of Hamburg-based indie studio Overhype Studios) will give insights into the development and marketing of their indie hit Battle Brothers in a post-mortem talk. 

More information about the speakers and their talks can be found at https://www.gamesconference.com/talks-2023


Become a speaker yourself 

Proposals for talks and presentations are still being accepted until January 20. Submissions on the topics of "Invest in Games", funding, game development, and marketing are open at https://www.gamesconference.com/call-for-papers

Conference tickets at early bird price until January 12, 2023. 

Tickets for the Hamburg Games Conference 2023 are available at https://HGC2023.eventbrite.co.uk. Until January 12, 2023, visitors can secure discounted Early Bird tickets at last year's price. In addition, reduced ticket prices are available for students and start-ups.

All current information about the Hamburg Games Conference is available at www.gamesconference.com.

News

Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding 2025: Six Prototypes Funded

In the latest round of funding 2025, Gamecity Hamburg supports six promising digital games with up to 80,000 euros each as a non-repayable grant.

Deutscher Computerspielpreis 2025 Photo by Franziska Krug/ DCP via Getty Images

Games Lift: An Incubator With Quantifiable Success

Is the Games Lift incubator worth it? Sure. Anyone can say that, but facts are better than empty claims. We have numbers to show what the incubator brings. 

Applications open for “Games Forged in Germany”: The Steam Sale organized by Games Germany enters its fourth round

German Developers, studios and publishers with their headquarter in Germany can now apply for the Games Germany Steam Sale for "Games Forged in Germany" 2025 until June 9, 2025.

Portside Game Assembly: Conference Speaker and Program Announced

Portside Game Assembly will take place on June 27, 2025 - Time to announce the full conference speaker and program line-up! This new dedicated B2B conference invites dedicated international indie game leaders aboard a ship cruising Hamburg’s famous harbour. In this focused and collaborative setting, indie leaders and decision makers will engage in a curated program of keynotes, impulse talks, and roundtables.

Games Lift 2025: Apply now from May 2 until June 10

Applications for Gamecity Hamburg's 2025 Games Lift are open from May 2 to June 10. Five teams will receive financial support in form of 15,000 euros, a comprehensive workshop program and access to the Games Lift Network of international industry experts. In addition, the teams can benefit from 1,000 euros in coaching budget. After a three-month workshop phase, the teams will be further supported with individual mentoring and will travel together to an international industry event until August 2026.

Road to Nordic 2025 - These Four Hamburg Games are Traveling to Malmö

With a spacious expo area, exciting developer showcases and many opportunities for business meetings, the Nordic Game Conference is one of the most important games conferences in Europe. It offers developers plenty of opportunities to network and meet relevant business contacts in person. Gamecity Hamburg will be back again in 2025, bringing four indie games from Hamburg to Malmö as part of the “Road to Nordic” program.

Road to gamescom 2025 - Apply until April 16!

Road to gamescom is back: We offer spots at our joint Gamecity Hamburg booth at the Indie Arena Booth for Hamburg-based studios, teams and devs. Apply now until April 16!

Prototype Funding 2025: Applications open until April 7

Applications for Gamecity Hamburg's 2025 prototype funding are open from March 3 to April 7. This year's funding round provides 400,000 euros in total and up to 80,000 euros per accepted application team.

Road to Nordic Game 2025

Gamecity Hamburg offers a Road to Nordic Game Conference program: We offer four spots at our Gamecity Hamburg booth for Hamburg-based studios, teams and devs. Apply now until March 30!

Recap: This was Pitch Level Up 2025

The fourth round of Pitch Level Up took place on February 20, 2025. Read our recap here in order to learn more about this beloved mentoring event, which will come back 2026.

School Internship Games January 2025: Pupils discover games industry in Hamburg companies

During a three-week internship, 15 9th grade students from Hamburg gained insights into the various job profiles and companies in the games industry. We visited them for their final presentation and found out what they learned.

Portside Game Assembly: Ticket sales for brunch and party launched

With Portside Game Assembly, Gamecity Hamburg is welcoming studio heads and directors from successful indie game studios on a conference ship and other extraordinary locations in Hamburg on June 27, 2025. More participating studios are announced and the ticket sale for all events has started.

More News
Cookies are used to make this website work and to enhance your experience.

To learn more about the types of cookies this website uses, see our Cookie Policy. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, not all functions of the website may be available.

Cookies are used to make this website work and to enhance your experience.

To learn more about the types of cookies this website uses, see our Cookie Policy. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, not all functions of the website may be available.

Your cookie preferences have been saved.