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

Indie Dev Insights #3: How to build a successful small indie team

In the third episode of our Indie Dev Insights video series, Daniel Marx, CEO at the Hamburg-based Osmotics Studio, gives first-hand insights about his experience with founding a studio and working in a small indie team.

Daniel Marx from Osmotic Studios
Daniel Marx from Osmotic Studios

Most indie teams start off rather small, as a group of friends or colleagues with a great idea. But there are many roles to be filled during the game development process, which means every member of the team has to be prepared to take on different responsibilites and a variety of tasks. How can young teams handle this challenge? Or can this challenge even turn into an advantage?  

Daniel Marx, Chief Executive Officer at Hamburg-based indie developer Osmotic Studios offered us some insight on how their small team has been working since 2014 and during the development of multiple games. He talks about the challenges and opportunities teams like theirs encounter and why now is the best time to found a studio in Hamburg. Watch the interview here! 

A big thank you to Daniel for this insightful interview and to moodmacher+ who produced the video!

This is the third video of Gamecity Hamburg's new series "Indie Dev Insights" where we talk to indie devs and industry experts about topics that concern indies apart from strictly development topics - like marketing, sales, funding, publishing or in this case: organizing your team. You can find the first episode here, in which we covered the topic publishing - but from a publisher's perspective, with Jonas Hüsges from Daedalic Entertainment. In our second episode, Manny Hachey, COO of the indie studio THREAKS told us all about how to find the right publisher for your game.  

Also, we're already preparing the next episodes with more indie dev topics for 2022. So stay tuned and subscribe to our YouTube channel to not miss any new episode.

News

Road to Polaris 2024 - Apply until August 25

The community convention Polaris takes place on October 11-13 with a three-day program including gaming, e-sports, anime and manga, cosplay, and content creation. Gamecity Hamburg provides free booth packages for Hamburg-based developers, teams, and studios. Applications are open until August 25!

Recap: The Game Playtest Night #2 was a blast – and will return

Let's look back at our Game Playtest Night #2 in June: We cooperated with the gaming and esport location Play Bay in order to offer participating indie developers an opportunity, to test their work in progress games with the help of motivated test gamers.

Why LGBTQIA+ visibility in games is so important

Journalist Lea Irion came out about her sexuality thanks to a video game. Here she tells her own story and that of two LGBTQIA+ devs from Hamburg.

Third "Games Made in Germany" Steam Sale launches on June 20

The "Games Made in Germany" Steam sale by Games Germany will feature 250 great games made in Germany, starting on June 20 with a big showcase on the IGN Youtube-Channel and an exclusive vinyl with the best soundtracks from German games.

Goodbye Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub

The time has come for the Gamecity Hamburg Online Hub. We are closing the virtual home for Hamburg's games industry on our Gamecity Hamburg website. Join us for a trip back on memory lane.

Queer Games Bundle 2024 - Our top 5 Games

In the Queer Games Bundle you can find about 500 games, assets and more in support of LGBTQ+ games, creators and game devs. We picked some highlights for you.

Gamecity Hamburg & four Hamburg indie game studios and developers at Nordic Game 2024

Recap: Road to Nordic - Gamecity Hamburg at the Nordic Games Conference 2024

Let's look back at our Road to Nordic program: We attended the Nordic Game Conference 2024 in Malmö, with four Hamburg indie game developers and their game projects.

Gamecity Hamburg Prototype Funding 2024: Hamburg funds five prototypes of digital games

Gamecity Hamburg supports five game projects in the 2024 funding round as part of its Prototype Funding program. As early-stage funding for companies and start-ups based in Hamburg, the funding enables the development of prototypes of digital games with high market potential.

Job Spotlight: Bytro

Bytro is a well-established institution in the Hamburg games industry and the mobile and browser games market. Their first game, Supremacy 1914, will turn 15 years old in May of 2024. This is a rare milestone for any game, especially considering that this historic war strategy game might not exactly be a mainstream product. The key to running a successful company for a long time is, of course, the people. As Bytro is currently hiring, we spoke to Felix Schröter, the interim Lead for Analytics and Monetization. He has had many different opportunities at Bytro and gave us deeper insights into the company and their current job openings.

Games Lift: More Successful Than Ever

It’s high time to apply for this year’s Games Lift Incubator. The next round is already gearing up. Meanwhile, the program has proven its worth: It is developing success.

Games Lift 2024: Apply now from May 2 until June 10

Applications for Gamecity Hamburg's 2024 Games Lift are open from May 2 to June 10. Five teams will receive financial support in the 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 2025.

Games Lift Alumni: Why you should go for the Incubator

The Games Lift Incubator is a unique program offering 15,000 euros of funding, 3 months of workshops to get your game concept market-ready and a year of mentoring. Five teams per year get the chance to bring their game concept to the next level with this suppport. But if you're still not convinced that applying would be a great idea, we think it's best to see what other indie devs have to say about their time in the program: 

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