FLEGA

What are the Flemish game devs up to at GDC23?

Robby Bisschop

14/03/2023

The GDC stage with lights and an audience

GDC (Game Developers Conference) is the largest gathering of game developers in the world and for the better part of a week, San Francisco will be home to insightful talks, an expo to showcase the latest titles and game technologies and lots of networking (ideally at parties). The Flemish games industry will be well represented, with Benjamin Dalle, the Flemish minister of Culture, Media & Youth and a local delegation consisting of a.o. FLEGA, FIT, VAF, the Flanders Game Hub and about 40 Belgian developers showing everyone present what we’re capable of.

It’s THE moment to expand your knowledge and pitch your games or services to publishers, investors or potential clients, and it can be vital to launching your next idea(s).

Courage XL

Games and developers and drinks, oh my!

On the 19th of March, the night before GDC’s official opening, Courage XL acts as a pre-mixer event where players get a free beer in exchange for providing feedback on games. It’s become a popular showcase event that draws upwards of 500 visitors, among which are several publishers and investors but also popular creators or members of the press, so it’s an excellent opportunity to get the ball rolling and to get your game out there for fresh eyes to behold.

Games, networking and beers at Courage XL last year

From the Flemish side of things, these companies will be showcasing:

Banzai Studios, with Gazzlers, an on-rails VR shooter
Day and Night Solutions, developers of games and tools for blockchain game platforms, such as HeXenagos.
Nachtvlam, with Verses of Enchantment, a AI driven card game that writes poetry based on your played turns.
Smart Games, developer of educational multi-level logic games

GDC conference & expo

After two days of inspiring conference talks, including two by Demute, our proud member with incredible audio expertise, the expo halls will finally open their doors on Wednesday the 22^nd of March, and welcome players and game professionals alike. The Flemish companies are again well represented at the BelgianGames booth, where they can dazzle visitors with our locally brewed products.

Take a sip of what we have to offer this year:

Apptweak: helps companies grow their apps and games with actionable insights.
Banzai Studios: Put on a VR headset and shoot the pursuing enemies in Gazzlers.
Crazy Games: a free online games portal
Cybernetic Walrus: known for their games but at GDC they’ll mostly be pitching their gametech-related services.
DAE Studios: game incubator and accelerator
Flanders Game Hub: Flemish game incubator & accelerator
Oisoi Studio: Letting you become a true VR-tist with digital paint in Painting VR.
Smart Games: developer of educational multi-level logic games

*Place yourself on the leaderboard of Gazzlers, an on-rails VR shooter with wacky enemies*.

But that’s not all, whoever is walking the GDC hallways or booking their calendars with interesting people to meet may also encounter these Flemish game developers, who’ll be accompanying us on this trip:

Briganti: Creators of Dungeon Alchemist, an AI-powered map making tool for Tabletop RPGs
Chris Hanney: freelance videogame expert
Cyborn: the studio behind the visually impressive VR title Hubris
Echtgoed: Game and UX design
Happy Volcano: developers behind The Almost Gone and You Suck At Parking, who are currently working on an exciting undisclosed project
I-illusions: developers famous for VR shooter Space Pirate Trainer and recently released snowboard game Shredders
Jordy Lakière: solo developer of international indie hit We Who Are About to Die
Lifelong Games: Developer of Brukel, a historic legacy title.
MoonMonster Studios: game studio currently developing Space Control, a hilarious VR scifi escapade.
Previewlabs: rapid prototyping
Sander Vanhove: freelance game developer
Team Panoptes: The Brussels based studio behind VR titles such as Panoptic and Silhouette
Triangle Factory: studio known for their VR success Hyperdash and upcoming VR team-based shooter Breachers
Venly: developing web3 tools

Needless to say, the Flemish games industry will be present in full force. And minister Dalle will also be using GDC23 as an opportunity to visit many of the top international players in the videogame landscape. A packed agenda of company visits and meetings with META, Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, Epic and Unity, among others, will strengthen current international partners and open new international doors for our vibrant Flemish game community.

So if you’re reading this, and you’ll be at GDC 2023, come pay us a visit at the BelgianGames booth: North Hall // Booth N2803.

Submissions for the Belgian Game Awards are open. Go!

Natascha Rommens

01/03/2023

The Belgian Game Awards are back! The next celebration of the best of our beloved #BelgianGamesIndustry will take place on June 23rd in La Sucrerie in Wavre. If you’re a game company based in Belgium that’s released a game, product or service during the eligible period and you feel like you could totally crush this, submit your project and who knows, you’ll soon have one of the Belgian Game Awards trophies on your office desk!

Eager to follow in the footsteps of previous award winners like Happy Volcano, I-Illusions, Larian Studios or Fishing Cactus? You can! All you need to do is this:

Submit your game before the 31st of March. No need to sign up for a specific category. That is for our esteemed jury to decide.
Each submission costs €25,- and will grant you a free ticket to the Award show June 23rd.
Before going all in, make sure you have read and understood all rules and criteria.
After submitting, sit back and relax, as nominees will be announced halfway through May.
The jury will then spend all their spare time playing the nominated games and will decide who’s deserving of the fabulous trophies.
The winners will be announced during the Awards show on June 23rd in La Sucrerie in Wavre.

Submit a project

There are some new awards (Best Narrative, Best Sound, Best Graphics) and returning favourites (Student Game of the Year, Belgian Game of the Year, XR Game of the Year, Best Applied Game, Best Start-up Studio, Best Studio). Later we’ll also open voting for E-Sports awards as well as our coveted Audience Award (but more on that later). Everyone is getting a shot so you might as well go for it!

The Belgian Game Awards wouldn’t be possible without the valued support of Belgian Games, FLEGA, WALGA, Games.Brussels, Play.Brussels, Departement Cultuur, Jeugd en Media, VAF|GAME, Wallimage Entreprises, RTBF, VRT Max and Speel Het Slim/Jouez Malin.

2022: What a year! And so much more to come…

Natascha Rommens

22/12/2022

Here we are, the end of the year (already 😳). A time to think about New Year’s resolutions and make plans for the year(s) to come. However, let’s not go too fast too soon. Let us take a step back and contemplate this year. 2022 did count a few important milestones for FLEGA and the entire Flemish game sector. Videogames are gaining momentum and we’re very happy to have contributed to making that happen. Read on for a short recap of 2022 and a sneak peak of some of the things we’re cooking up for 2023 (spoiler alert: you might be in for a party).

2022: hibernation is over

**Mission to Atlanta in the presence of her Royal Highness Princess Astrid**

How we all enjoyed being back in the game of fairs, meetups, showcases and physical events. UNWRAP, BIG BROTARU, FACTS and Gameforce were only a few of the events where we were able to make our FLEGA family shine. Moreover, with a careful BelgianGames reboot at GDC, a full blown booth at gamescom and an inspiring mission to Atlanta in the presence of her Royal Highness Princess Astrid, we started spreading our international wings again. We’re thankful for our partner FIT who has your back when it comes to crossing borders.

After 10 years of hard work involving numerous meetings and calls, thousands of documents and position papers, many phone calls and you bearing with us all the time, we will finally FINALLY have a tax shelter for videogames in Belgium.

Topped off with additional VAF|GAME project funding and the Flanders Game Hub, a full blown incubator and accelerator for local videogame studios, we couldn’t be more convinced that the pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place. Stars align.

We also continued to lobby on a national and international level to get more recognition and support for our sector and to raise our voice in different subject matters. We consulted with our legal counsels on several important legal developments, such as the transposition of the European Copyright Directive and the Digital Content Directive into national laws. Also offering our members a free webinar to explain this complicated legislation, that has direct impact on your business.

The past year brought us some position switches in our Board, with Anissa (imec) leaving us for her dream project and Rik Leenknegt ceding his place to Vicky Vermeulen (HOWEST DAE). A big up for them and our Board for being the best FLEGA ambassadors we could hope for.

So, is there anything left to do in 2023?

At FLEGA we never rest when it comes to boosting our members and the Flemish game sector. Different legal matters could have massive impact. But don’t worry. We’ll speak up for you.

For instance we’ll closely monitor the changes to the fiscal copyright remuneration system, that is scheduled to go into effect as of January 1st and we’ll inform you in due time of what you need to know. Tax Shelter-wise there will be a lot of information coming your way in the form of a FAQ and workshops, to get you up to speed.

Together with VAF|GAME, FIT and other valuable partners, we keep on paving the path to world domination. We’ll make sure you have access to discounts and events and we’ll keep on listening to what you need and try to make that happen. First up: GDC with a record number of companies joining the BelgianGames booth and minister Dalle joining us to boost our sector even more.

On a European level many things should start moving in the right direction as of next year since the Culture Committee in the European Commission recently voted a comprehensive report on our sector, amongst others pushing for videogames to be recognized as culture and aiming for the creation of a specific NACE code for videogame developers.

Happy birthday FLEGA!

In 2023 we’ll be celebrating our 10th anniversary with you. Stay tuned for the party details!

With 10 years of FLEGA history we look back with a mix of gratitude and pride. We’re proud to be part of this vibrant community and to be able to make a difference in your story. And we’re thankful for having awesome partners and wonderful members in the FLEGA family. Without your financial support, your hard work and awesome projects, we would have no reason to exist.

With that said, we wish you Happy Holidays, some quality time with your pets, family and friends and we’ll be back on January 9 for a new and wonderful year of Flemish Games.

Flanders Game Hub is looking for a General Manager

Natascha Rommens

20/12/2022

You might have picked up on the news that the plans for the Flanders Game Hub have been approved and will soon touch base in Kortrijk and remotely. This brand new incubator and accelerator program will be the driving force behind a strong game sector in Flanders.

Would you like to put your shoulders to the wheel ? Good news, the founding partners are on the lookout for a key figure, a super hero (M/F/X), a.k.a. THE general manager of the Flanders Game Hub.

Triggered? Read the job description below (in Dutch) and send in your application before January 7.

Read the job description

Apply

The VAF|GAME submission calls for 2023

Natascha Rommens

15/12/2022

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 2023.

January 24, 12 PM

Artistic, Entertainment, Serious & Educational Games

Creation & Promotion

Apply

June 13, 12 PM

Artistic, Entertainment, Serious & Educational Games

Creation & Promotion

Apply

October 3, 12 PM

Artistic, Entertainment, Serious & Educational Games

Creation & Promotion

Apply

In case you’re heading for the first funding call, time to get moving. Good luck!

The final VAF|GAME funding call results are out

Natascha Rommens

06/12/2022

VAF|GAME announced the results of the final funding call for this year. These are the studios that receive a very nice end-of-the-year present (not forgetting they worked damn hard to earn it):

Artistic Games

Wired Sheep secured €71.153,94 of pre-production support to develop their title Plum Road Team Dream.
Nachtvlam bedazzled the jury with their Verses of Enchantment and receives €15.000 worth of promotional support.

Entertainment Games

Pre-Production

Proud FLEGA member Polygoat will be able to further develop their game Alfred with a support of €75.000.
Slappy Inc was able to secure €49.864 to sketch out Maze’Em.

Production

Member of the FLEGA family AlterEyes nailed €142.418,91 worth of support for Big Shots
Tovenaar conjured a magical appearance of €186.272,33 for the development of BattleSage.
Head First Studios will be developing Divine Ambition with an extra ambition of €142.418,92.

Promotion

Cyborn receives €25.000 of marketing support to boost Hubris.

Serious & Educational Games

And finally, FLEGA member LuGus Studios nailed €150.000 for take off with the production of Liftoff:Offworld.

Congrats to everyone who nailed their submission and received valuable support. The calendar of all VAF|GAME submission calls in 2023 is now online. First up: January 24th 2023 is your final date to submit for the first round of 2023.