Gaming start-ups from West Sweden in focus at Play My Game

'Play My Game' is a concept where game developers present their games at an early stage in order to receive feedback from other developers, enthusiasts and investors so that the game developers use the feedback to improve the further development process and save time and money.

As an introduction to Play My Game, nine of The Game Incubators game studios were given the opportunity to present themselves and their games in Visual Arenas' studio. Titles that have already been released and games that are currently in development were presented and the range was diverse, with everything from beautifully illustrated console games to children's games, quiz games and advanced action games on phones. Along with the participating game studios from The Game Incubator, Yrgo was also present and explained more about their "Game Developer" training.

'We are really pleased with the event!' said Christian Riedl, project manager at The Game Incubator in Gothenburg.

'With the Play My Game concept, we were able to test new channels of communication and a new format for presenting games, and the feedback from everyone with whom we came into contact was positive. There is a great deal of interest in gaming development at Lindholmen and you can see it with the visitors.

Unlike a traditional gaming exhibition, we present unfinished games in various stages of completion with all of their faults and shortcomings, which removes the drama of the 'release.'  It gives the developers a quick and effective feedback loop indicating whether the product holds up or not and creates an understanding for how important it is to create a company and not just a gaming project.'

After the presentations, the day was begun by allowing participants to test drive the games and talk more with the gaming companies behind them. One of the participants was Joel Karlsson from Gothenburg.

'I think it was a really great event. I am curious about how to go about starting a game studio and now I have had the chance to talk with start-ups about their own experiences and I was able to ask The Game Incubator questions about how they can help me. Of course, it was also a lot of fun with the new games!' 

Exposure is important for success

'Releases have been changed so radically from something very absolute to an iterative process in collaboration with the gaming community, and there no reason whatsoever to sit back with their game and wait until the release date out of fear that it can be copied. Quite the opposite - the earlier you come out and show what you have, the better. There is a 100% greater risk that your game disappears in the noise because of poor exposure than it being copied,' Christian explained.

'For our start-ups, it is of the utmost importance to test their games, receive feedback and build relationships with their end users as early as possible in the development process. It is also important that they exhibit and hone their sales skills in a live setting. It gives investors, publishers and other interested parties the opportunity to get a glimpse at what is under way and establish relationships with the companies at an early stage, which lowers the risks for everyone involved,' Christian continued.

'Because there are so many competent people at Lindholmen, there was also a fair amount of recruitment to various key roles in the companies.' 

Read more about the The Game Incubator här