The non-repayable funding grant will enable the selected start-ups from Hamburg to develop prototypes in order to position themselves in the growing global games market. A total of 23 game developers and companies have applied with projects in the 1st funding round 2021.

Dr. Carsten Brosda, Hamburg’s Minister of Culture and Media: "Hamburg is one of the leading games industry hubs in Europe. To maintain this position, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg provides tailored support to the games industry, through the Prototype Funding program and other measures. It gives studios and developers who plan to start up, settle or open a branch in Hamburg the opportunity to develop and implement their ideas here and thus further strengthens Hamburg as a business location. The projects submitted this year were once again convincing through their multitude as well as their high quality and demonstrated the large potential of the games industry location Hamburg."

"After we were able to launch the new Hamburg Prototype Funding and our Games Lift Incubator in 2020, this year already shows how well these two funding instruments work together. For example, Crumbling is the first game project to receive prototype funding that has previously successfully completed our incubator program. With the help of feedback from our mentors, the team has made a great leap forward and developed a convincing concept for the game and a marketing plan around an innovative virtual reality game mechanic,", says Dennis Schoubye, Project Manager Gamecity Hamburg.

The application phase for the funding ran from March 29 to May 17. In an online pitch day, a pre-selection of the best project teams presented their ideas to the awarding committee. 

The awarding committee, consisting of Hamburg games industry experts Nina Müller (Head of Publishing Goodgame Studios), Michael Schade (Co-Founder and CEO ROCKFISH Games), Valentina Birke (Project Manager Super Crowd Entertainment), Jens Unrau (Head of Department Media and Digital Economy of the Ministry of Culture and Media in Hamburg) and Dennis Schoubye (Project Lead Gamecity Hamburg) made the funding decision for the six projects. 

In addition to a convincing presentation of the project and team, other criteria such as feasibility, promotion of young talent, location effect and market potential were factored in in the decision. A further prerequisite for funding from the Hamburg Prototype Funding is that the funded teams must be based in Hamburg or relocate to Hamburg if funding is approved, or open a branch office in the city.

The funded projects: 

THE INVITATION by tool1 - 60,000 Euros

ARC BREAK by SpiceVR - 50,000 Euros

Rocket Science GONE WRONG (working title) by James Rucks & Clemens Runge - 48,000 Euros

Crumbling by Team Crumbling - 39,782 Euros

The Hunt for Epic Treasure (working title) by Elecular - 35,200 Euros

Fantasma Ville by Torito Games - 19,140 Euros

Further funding opportunities in 2021 through Gamecity Hamburg:

Application phase for the second round of prototype funding in 2021 starts August 30:

For the first time, there will be a second round of prototype funding for the current year. Developers and games companies will be able to apply for funding for their prototypes from August 30.

All further information on prototype funding in Hamburg can be found here on our website. 

Games Lift Incubator: Application phase starting on June 21:

The application phase for the Games Lift Incubator will start June 21. In this second funding program from Gamecity Hamburg, teams are supported with financing of up to 15,000 Euros and a three-month coaching and mentoring program by experienced, international experts from the games industry. All information about the Games Lift Incubator is available here on our website.