VAF|GAME announced the results of the final funding call for this year for Artistic, Entertainment, Educational and Serious games. Anxious to submit your next game? The first submission deadline for next year is January 14th.
Artistic Games
Prototype Support
Seafarer Films secured €20.000,- to sketch out the title Plantlife.
Promotional Support
Rabotica was able to secure €67.638,- for Curiosmos.
Entertainment Games
Prototype Support
AlterEyes was able to secure €25.000- to sketch out Beyond Repair.
Studio Kabouterwill be able to prototype their game Draai with a support of €10.000.
Volcaban Studio can start prototyping Echoes of Emperors with €12.000 of funding.
Wall Town Wonders by Cyborn receives €60.000,- for promotional support.
Serious and Educational Games
Dexr secured €17.500,- to sketch out the prototype of Dexr Stage.
Die Keure receives €90.203,4- of vertical slice support for Labo.
Realm Architect takes home €94.000,- for developing a vertical slice of Realm Architect.
Congrats to everyone who succeeded their submission and received valuable support. The calendar of all VAF|GAME submission calls in 2025 is online here. Keep an eye on our socials so you don’t miss out on anything.
Game development never stops. And neither does VAF|GAME in supporting game developers and their wonderful projects. These are the dates to keep in mind if you want to submit a project for VAF|GAME funding in 2025.
January 14th, 12 PM
Artistic, Entertainment, Serious & Educational Games
On the evening of October 18, the Belgian games industry gathered to celebrate the very best our country has to offer. The Belgian Game Awards, organized by FLEGA and BelgianGames with support from various partners of the Belgian game ecosystem, are excited to announce the results for this year’s show! In presence of the brand new Flemish Minister of Media, in charge of video games Cieltje Van Achter, over 500 people from the gamesector gathered to celebrate video games made in Belgium.
Without further ado, let’s get to the list of winners:
XR Game of the Year
GAZZLERS by Bolt Blaster Games
Breachers by Triangle Factory
BAM by I-Illusions
What the jury had to say: “GAZZLERS is a game with universal appeal that makes losing feel like fun. The game is very intuitive and makes good use of the VR medium. It makes you want to come back for more. The Art direction is remarkable, the game is well polished and the voice acting is sublime.”
Best Applied Game
Please, Touch The Artwork 2 by Thomas Waterzooi
Kadet by Die Keure
The Man Came Around by Pipette Inc
What the jury had to say: “Please, Touch The Artwork 2 is easily accessible and can be used anywhere: from the kitchen to the museum or in schools. It brings the big C of Culture to anyone using the medium of a game”
Best Narrative
Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios
The Man Came Around by Pipette Inc
Gangs of Sherwood by Appeal Studios
What the jury had to say: “Baldur’s Gate 3 is in a league of its own. The game stayed true to the studio’s DNA while thriving on a huge and impressive IP. The communities that arose around the game’s characters, such as Astarion, have never been seen before. There is an enormous amount of effort and content put in the narrative lines. The storylines and characters became real for many players; which makes this game unique.”
Best Audio
Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios
Swarm Survivor by Megaloh! Games
Verses of Enchantment by Nachtvlam
What the jury had to say: “A lot of the emotions and immersion in Baldur’s Gate 3 come to the player through the music. The music is even used in other media to set the atmosphere of a scene (e.g. De Mol). The voice acting is sublime and the game single-handedly launched the career of its voice actors. Goosebumps all over every time we start-up it up and the first score starts.”
Best Visual Art
The Man Came Around by Pipette Inc
Waking Tides by AirshipFX
Please, Touch The Artwork 2 by Thomas Waterzooi
What the jury had to say: “Developed by a single person, The Man Came Around managed to set a very strong identity. If you see a screenshot of this game, you immediately recognize the art style. A simple style that works and doesn’t follow the 2D trends.”
Best Game Design
Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios
GAZZLERS by Bolt Blaster Games
Slapshot Rebound by Oddshot Games
What the jury had to say: “Even if you hate turned-base-combat, you’ll still love Baldur’s Gate 3 as it made the Dungeons & Dragons rules less boring. Every detail is just right; the difficulty levels are well balanced and there is an undeniable Larian touch in the way the toy box elements have been perfected.”
Best Multiplayer
Breachers by Triangle Factory
Slapshot Rebound by Oddshot Games
Kraken Island by VEX Solutions
What the jury had to say: “If Counterstrike and Rainbow 6 would have a love-child in VR, Breacherswould be it! With a huge player community – and some practice to get the hang of it – once you’re in, you are hooked.”
Student Game of the Year
Nebelmer by Haute École Albert Jacquard students
Don’t Forget by Howest DAE students
A Postman’s Journey by LUCA School of Arts students
What the jury had to say: “Nebelmer offers an incredible experience and is so well polished for a student game. Please finish it and put it on the market!”
Most Anticipated Release
Laser Dance by Studio Vanbo
Koira by Studio Tolima
Glommy Eyes – The Game by Fishing Cactus
What the jury had to say: “Laser Dance is the perfect Mixed Reality game to showcase to people who don’t grasp the concept yet. Any room in your house can be turned into a unique level and the possibilities are endless. Brilliant concept with a flawless execution, we can’t wait to play more of it!”
Best Tech Provider
Demute
Briganti
Cybernetic Walrus
What the jury had to say: “Demute has an impressive track record working on scopes ranging from big AAA titles to humble indie games. They have worked on over 20 Belgian games and remain an important element for our Belgian games ecosystem. But they have big news to share: in January 2025, they will open a new branch in Montreal to better serve their North American clients whil still offering advice, audio services, tools and shared knowledge to Belgian studios.”
Changemaker of the Year
Demute
Briganti
Cybernetic Walrus
What the jury had to say: “Demute has an impressive track record working on scopes ranging from big AAA titles to humble indie games. They have worked on over 20 Belgian games and remain an important element for our Belgian games ecosystem. But they have big news to share: in January 2025, they will open a new branch in Montreal to better serve their North American clients whil still offering advice, audio services, tools and shared knowledge to Belgian studios.”
Most Promising Start-up
Maracas Studio
Clever Trickster
Tovenaar
What the jury had to say: “Maracas is a young studio with a very holistic view. They know where they come from, who they are, and where they are going. The studio works on a diverse portfolio of games and carefully adjusts which projects to invest in, while also giving back to the local community through their recurring Game Dev Afterwork meet-ups.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 wins Game of the Year + Audience Award!
What the jury had to say: “Maracas is a young studio with a very holistic view. They know where they come from, who they are, and where they are going. The studio works on a diverse portfolio of games and carefully adjusts which projects to invest in, while also giving back to the local community through their recurring Game Dev Afterwork meet-ups.”
So there you have it! The winners of the Belgian Game Awards 2024 are known, and we’ll celebrate their legacy forever!
Did you miss the show LIVE? Don’t worry, you can watch the video on youtube.
The Belgian Game Awards 2024 are back with a dazzling show on October 18th in Brussels Expo. And we’re happy to give you a sneak peek on what to expect. The nominees in the 7 categories of Released Games are known as are those in the Student Game category. This year, we’re going Olympic with games winning a Gold, Silver or Bronze award.
These are not the only awards of course! The jury is still hard at work playing the unreleased games which all have a shot at being nominated for the Most AnticipatedGame award, the Audience Award voting will open soon so players at home can vote for their favourite title and one game will take home the much coveted Belgian Game of the Year trophy! And let’s not forget about studio jury selecting as we speak who will bring home one of the Studio Awards: Most Promising Start-Up Studio, Changemaker of the Year and Best Tech Provider.
Find out below which titles have made the cut in the Released Game categories. Congratulations to all people involved!
Grab your ticket for the Belgian Game Awards Show to witness first-hand who wins Gold, Silver or Bronze during a live show (with afterparty of course;-)
Grab your ticket for the Belgian Game Awards Show to witness first-hand who wins Gold, Silver or Bronze during a live show. Show starts at 9PM and ends with drinks and loads of #belgiangamedev peeps cheering for this amazing industry we work for.
The Belgian Game Awards 2024 are organised by FLEGA for BelgianGames and could never have been possible without the valuable support from our dearest partners at Departement Media, Kabinet Media, VAF Game, VRT, Pirate PR, Hub Brussels, Games Brussels, Walga, Wallimage, RTBF, Creative Europe, VGFB, Gameforce/ComicCon/Heroes.
Each year the Flemish Government awards Medals of Honour to a very select group of persons. With the “Ereteken van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap”, the Flemish Government honours persons who have been exceptionally meritorious towards the Flemish Community or the Flemish Region or who, because of their outstanding talent, have contributed to the positive image of Flanders. This year, Swen Vincke, a captain of industry and inspiration for many game developers in Belgium (and far beyond the borders of our tiny little country), receives the honour.
During a solemn ceremony at the beautiful Errera House, Minister-President of the Flemish Government Jan Jambon compared the journey of Balduran to Swen’s: “Not all those who wander are lost, Tolkien wrote, and Balduran, an explorer from Dungeons and Dragons, listened. He wandered around with one goal in mind: to gather enough wealth to found the city of Baldur’s Gate. Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons are the founders of today’s fantasy genre. Flanders has an equally impressive founder of the game industry walking around in the person of Swen Vincke.”
A true explorer, entrepreneur and seeker of perfection, Swen Vincke knows what it is to swing around, to experience the highs and lows. In 1996, he founded game studio Larian, named after his dog Lar. The beginning was difficult. Until Divinity: Original Sin was launched. So contradictory in name, so successful it smashed the proverbial glass ceiling. No one could have imagined that 5 years later Larian Studios would peak to astronomical heights with their biggest success to date: Baldur’s Gate III. A game that symbolises the tenacious visionary Swen Vincke is in creating thé best game with thé best team.
Cashing in 5 out of 10 nominations at the Bafta Game Awards – to name just one of the recognitions the game received – Swen Vincke is considered an example in our sector that slowly conquers hearts worldwide. That earned him appreciation and well deserved recognition in the form of a Flemish Medal of Honour.
Swen Vincke could not be physically present at the ceremony. Jan Van Dosselaer, Principal Writer at Larian, received the Award on his behalf. Alongside Swen Vincke, Hans Kluge, Barbara Ceuleers and Philippe Vandekerckhove received a Medal of Honour.
October will be a month to shine and sparkle. With the Belgian Game Awards Show and the Belgian Game Awards pavilion at Gameforce, nominees will get a much deserved energy boost to beat the fall dip. However, for those not in the running for the Belgian Game Awards, there is a alternative! VAF|GAME will host a Belgian Playtest Booth at gameforce and you can be part of it. Moreover, if you’re a FLEGA member, you’ll do so at discounted rates. Read on and sign up before July 31st.
Gameforce
There are plenty of reasons to pay the biggest game fair in Belgium a visit. If you’re looking to connect with a local audience, do some solid playtesting, explore how to market or sell your game to your audience, you definitely need to swing by Brussels Expo, October 19th-20th.
Playtest Booth at Gameforce
October 19th-20th (09:00 – 18:00) at Brussels Expo
Exclusively for Flemish and Brussels studios with an in-development project who’re able to present a vertical slice by mid October
Natascha Rommens 
04/12/2024
