Hamburg, July 28. Five teams have convinced the Games Lift awarding committee of the potential of their game projects.  On September 8, the Games Lift incubator will launch its next round, supporting teams with a one-year workshop and mentoring program featuring input from international industry experts and 15,000 euros in financial support. More than 30 experts from the Games Lift Network will share their experience with the teams and provide professional and tailored support for the game projects. In addition to the extensive exchange, mentoring, and many workshops, the teams will travel to an international industry event together. This combination of benefits makes Games Lift unique as an incubator for games in Germany. The Games Lift Incubator is organized and run by Gamecity Hamburg on behalf of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

In its sixth year since its introduction, a total of 43 teams and solo developers applied to participate in the Games Lift Incubator – more than twice as many as in previous years. The decision on the five participating teams was made by the award committee, consisting of Kristin von der Wense (Publishing Producer, Daedalic Entertainment), Ole Schaper (Managing Director, The Sandbox Hamburg (Sviper GmbH)), Heiko Gogolin (Managing Director, Rocket Beans Entertainment), and Tobias Graff (Co-Founder Mooneye Studios).

Margarete Schneider, Project Manager at Gamecity Hamburg and also part of the selection committee, said: “We are delighted about the rising awareness and popularity of Games Lift – this year we received applications from seven countries and three continents. However, we also see the growing demand as a sign that, in the current industry situation, low-threshold support programs such as the Games Lift Incubator are becoming even more important. We are therefore very pleased to accompany five Hamburg teams on their way to the successful release of their first title.”

The five games and teams for the Games Lift Incubator 2025 are:

• The Wrong Horse by Sharon Sacks & Vincent Will
• Encaged and Ungraded by Leif Gutowski
• Fading Skies by Distant Blue
• Phasmopass by Curio Compass
• Project: Slimepot by Calluna Games

The Wrong Horse is a colorful murder mystery adventure set at a horse racing track. As a journalist, it is the player's task to uncover the secrets surrounding the mysterious death of a jockey and identify the perpetrator.

Encaged and Ungraded is a mixture of anomaly horror and job simulation. A shady company forces players into the role of a card grader, where they check various cards for authenticity and quality. But soon, players find themselves searching for eerie and dangerous anomalies – and hopefully they can make it through to the end of their shift.

Fading Skies revives the charm of the PS2 and GameCube era by combining classic 3D platforming with modern action RPG elements. As Ryn, a young woman accompanied by a small magical dragon, players travel through a broken world full of secrets. The mission is to stop the planet's decay and confront the shadows of a forgotten past.

Phasmopass is a turn-based roguelite. Players lead a team of humans trapped in a never-ending volleyball reality show against ghostly opponents. Powerful items and pacts with other ghosts help players win tournaments to escape the dystopian city of Limbo!

Project: Slimepot (working title) is an action-adventure game in which players explore a dungeon full of monsters, turn them into dishes, and serve them to guests in their tavern. Here, exciting dungeon crawling meets creative cooking and relaxed tavern management.

Further information on all funded projects can be found here: https://gamecity-hamburg.de/incubator/funded-projects/.

The incubator program addresses the individual needs of developers with comprehensive workshops, mentoring, and coaching content. 

After completing the three-month workshop program, the teams will present their results to a wide audience in December 2025 as part of a public pitch. This will be followed by the second phase of the incubator, which will run until the end of August 2026.

During this phase, selected mentors will work closely with the teams and support them throughout the entire incubator period according to their needs: Manny Hachey (Accelerator Program Director, Xsolla), Björn Bergstein (Coach & Consultant for Management and Leadership), Daniel Marx (CEO & Game Director Osmotic Studios), Søren Lass (Founder Tugboat Interactive UG) and Steffen Rühl (expert in the digital and analog gaming industry). In regular, individual mentoring sessions, they will advise the teams and review their project progress.

In addition, the Games Lift Network, consisting of over 30 industry experts, will once again be available to participating teams this year to answer specific questions on topics from all areas of digital game development and marketing. 

Since 2025, the Games Lift Incubator also includes a joint visit by participating teams together with Gamecity Hamburg to an international industry event. This allows teams to gain early experience with the international games industry.

Further funding opportunities through Gamecity Hamburg:

In addition to the Games Lift Incubator, Gamecity Hamburg also supports developers and games companies from Hamburg with the Prototype Funding program. Each year, 400,000 euros are available for game projects from Hamburg, with up to 80,000 euros available per project. The next round for applications will start in spring 2026.

Further information on the Prototype Funding program can be found here:  https://gamecity-hamburg.de/funding/.

For further questions please contact:

Anna Jäger
Gamecity Hamburg
PR Manager
T +49 40 23 72 435- 78
anna.jaeger@gamecity-hamburg.de