Game Hub Scandinavia

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Why Game Hub?

The gaming industry is currently experiencing impressive growth rates and this positive trend seems to be on-going. Scandinavia is one of the world leaders when it comes to innovative products within the field. In Game Hub Scandinavia, we wish to make the gaming industry a primary source of income for the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Our goal is to generate 100 new companies and 400 new jobs in the Scandinavian countries through incubation of new businesses, gamification and knowledge sharing.

Incubation

Providing the best possible environment for new game developer talent and new game companies to start successful businesses is the job of incubators. Much of Game Hub Scandinavia’s efforts in job creation and research centers on the three incubators connected to Game Hub Scandinavia.

Community

Game Hub Scandinavia is the perfect starting point for you if you are looking for creative talents, partners, cool ideas to work on or a network you want to be part of. We are an entry point and one-stop-shop for both budding and weathered game developers as well as publishers and investors.

Research

The gaming industry is characterized by its rapidly changing nature, which makes it especially important that developers have the capability to adapt and grow to accommodate for, often unforeseen, changes in the industry landscape. Game Hub Scandinavia intends to demonstrate how the newest knowledge from university researchers can become useful to companies in the games industry.

News

Workshop: Game Design, Love and Art in Beijing

June 13th, 2019|0 Comments

University of Skövde teaching at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing By Games Researcher Marcus Toftedahl from the University of Skövde Lars Kristensen and Jenny Brusk helping the Chinese students During ten [...]

Game Design Workshop at Jiangnan University, Wuxi

June 6th, 2019|0 Comments

University of Skövde held a workshop at School of Digital Media, Jiangnan University, Wuxi By Games Researcher Per Backlund from the University of Skövde From left to right: Palle Rosendahl Ehmsen, Per Backlund, Dr. [...]

Internet Week Denmark – Aalborg

June 3rd, 2019|0 Comments

Getting started in the games industry - Aalborg By Stine Lund, Project Coordinator at Business Aalborg Friday May 10 2019, 40 students, teachers and game developers got together in Aalborg, the room full of anticipation [...]

For more news read our blog

Events

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Incubation

Game Hub Denmark

Together, Viden Djurs and Dania Erhvervsakademi operate the Game Hub Denmark incubator, which is located in Grenaa, Denmark; a city that has become a centre of entrepreneurship and game development.

Game Hub Denmark is an established brand that encompasses the pre-existing collaboration between Viden Djurs and Erhvervsakademi Dania and their focus on education, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Game Hub Denmark is an environment for graduates wanting to start their own company. The start-ups in Game Hub Denmark are graduates from either Viden Djurs Game College, Viden Djurs 3D College or Erhvervsakademi Dania’s Dania Games – or both institutions. Those who have no connection to either institution can obtain admission on approval by the mentors of the incubator.

Game Hub Denmark has helped more than 15 companies and 50 students and graduates get started since 2011.

The Game Incubator

The Game Incubator is operated by Science Park Skövde AB and located in Skövde, Sweden (since 2004) and Gothenburg (since 2015). The goal is to create global companies with local jobs. The Game Incubator is a national node and internationally recognized as a successful environment with proven methods and processes to start and develop game companies.

100+ companies have been helped by The Game Incubator. These include Coffee Stain Studios, Stunlock Studios and Pieces Interactive.

60+ games have been released by companies in The Game Incubator, ranging from the Goat Simulator to Magicka 2 and Dead Island: Epidemic.

Aalborg University Game Hub

SEA (Supporting Entrepreneurship at Aalborg University) has been supporting the startup environment at Aalborg University for many years. Now they’re bolstering the support of game development startups with their newly opened division Aalborg University Game Hub.

The AAU Game Hub strengthens the community around game development in Aalborg by collaborating with AAU educations and mentors, as well as hosting events which gather the community in Aalborg and nearby cities to reinforce relations and networks.

The AAU Game Hub offers unique perks for Game Developer Startups such as business development related to the games industry, office spaces shared with peers in game development, mentor boards and expert panels.

roof incubation

roof incubation is a newly established project operated by The Animation Workshop/VIA University College and housed by Arsenalet Creative Industry Cluster in Viborg, Denmark.

roof incubation is a startup community and business incubator for entrepreneurs working with visual storytelling and the games industry. roof incubator draws on the strength of its close ties to the surrounding creative environment and provides business development, networking, consultancy, investor relations as well as open and closed events.

Anyone can sign up, but the founder of your company must be based in Viborg. Furthermore you must have a registered company in Denmark.

Research

Integration of new game technologies

Today, game development is in many aspects driven by technology. The market is constantly filled with new technologies, which game studios have to relate to in order to operate on different gaming platforms. Current examples of such new technologies are virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR); two fields that rely on both specialized hardware (headsets, mobile devices) and software (game engines, specialized middleware) to be used properly. Game technologies include both software and hardware, and in our research we will identify and follow trends within these fields in order to learn more about how actors from the gaming industry in our region better can discover and use new technology in their products.

Analysing game development practices

Game development is different to traditional software development. Creating games requires a wide mix of competences due to the fact that entertainment, creativity and artistic merits typically are as important as functionality. There exists some research that has highlighted these differences but surprisingly little has been produced, which can help support start-up companies and establish sound development practices. Our goal is to review current literature on game development practice to establish a road map to existing knowledge and provide start-up companies with guidelines to game development practices.

Asian markets

The Indian game market is changing rapidly, according to a recent report from NASSCOM (The Indian Gaming Market Review, 2015). Society is embracing digital entertainment like never before, enabled by the fast growth of smartphones and affordable wireless internet. China is already identified as a major market with its own challenges in terms of technology and content. Game Hub Scandinavia explores the requirements for entering these markets from various perspectives – such as business and market understanding, gaming cultures and technology platforms. Researchers from the University of Skövde will explore challenges and possibilities of establishment in Asian markets such as India and China.

Gamification and diversification into new application areas

The term gamification has been coined to describe how game design components can be applied to other areas such as teaching and training in order to improve motivation and results. However, previous research shows that this entails many challenges. A good game is not necessarily a good teaching tool, and the learning context affects the requirements of a game. In our research, we aim to bridge the gap between the game development sphere and the application areas of gamified solutions.

Game development educations in Scandinavia

Tertiary education is a crucial component of the Scandinavian game industry ecosystem. Universities and vocational schools are continuously ensuring that game companies have the capabilities to equip themselves with competent and internationally competitive employees. As part of our research into this area, we have conducted a broader survey of the current situation – and future trends – of game education. The northern European model for game education and development has been receiving an increasing amount of attention internationally in recent years. In order to provide continued support for discussions regarding how tertiary education helps provide a foundation for the successful northern game industries, we published an overview of Swedish game education and will in the coming year share a similar overview of Danish and Norwegian educations.

Media Centre

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Gallery

Working with the Chinese games industry

Publications

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Animation, VR & Games for Impact 2018

Photos

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Gallery

Reading the mind: Detecting players’ emotions with a regular camera

Publications

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Facts and funding

Game Hub Scandinavia 2.0 is funded by the EU regional development fund Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak, sub-region Kattegat-Skagerrak (KASK) under the development-area “Employment”. Game Hub Scandinavia 2.0 is a continuation of the knowledge gained in our previous successful projects, similarly called Game Hub Scandinavia and Scandinavian Game Developers. We have through the years won several EU awards. In 2015 we won the EU RegioStar Award for its innovative approach and in June 2017 we won the prize “Best Public Administration for Start-ups 2016” granted by the President of the EU Parlament.

Running Period: 1st of January 2019 to 31st of December 2021
Budget: 4.556.788 €
Granted funds: 2.099.713 €
Central Denmark Region funds: 4.158.227 DKK
Lead partner: Viden Djurs

Partners

Get in touch

Lead Partner
Viden Djurs
Ditte Marie Juul Kristensen
+45 20 61 31 27
dmjk@videndjurs.dk

Communication officer
The Animation Workshop
Bue Fyhn
+45 87 55 49 31
buef@via.dk

The Game Incubator
Kenneth Johansson
+46 722 068 709
kenneth.johansson@gsp.se

Game Hub Denmark: Game Incubation
Mikkel Fledelius Jensen
+45 26 81 51 33
mfj@eadania.dk

roof incubation
Hannibal Glaser
+45 30 31 31 14
hang@via.dk

Gamification Lab
Thomas Lykke Larsen
+45 20 95 06 64
thla@aalborg.dk

SEA Game Hub
Jesper Helleskov Sørensen
jhs@adm.aau.dk

Research Lead
Per Backlund
+46 734 383 559
per.backlund@his.se