It’s THAT time of the year again! Bells ringing, people singing, croquette competitions at the diner table and an enthusiastic aunt or uncle asking you how the past year has been. The FLEGA cheat sheet looks bright for 2023 which means that the game sector is doing great. Here’s a festive reminder of the milestones we achieved together before we take a break and kick off 2024.
Hey FLEGA, let’s party more!
So many members asked us: bring us together and magic will happen. And so we did. Thanks to our partner VAF|GAME, we threw a FLEGA café in Brussels at Gameforce in October and our members Howest DAE and Flanders Game Hub hosted a FLEGA gathering in Kortrijk just last week. We threw a memorable birthday party in June to celebrate our 10th anniversary and yes, magic actually did happen 🤩. Topped off with another wonderful UNWRAP edition and a great Big Brotaru, the partycake wasn’t all that bad this year.
We didn’t stop there. Together with our partner in crime FIT, we showed off our #flemishgamedev talent at GDC, gamescom and during a full-blown game event in the economic mission to Australia. As you showed awesome games there, we made sure all relevant politicians were aware of that talent as both minister Benjamin Dalle, minister-president Jan Jambon and minister Diependaele left the room smiling and convinced this is a sector that matters.
Hey FLEGA, what about tax shelter?
A first Flemish game launched with tax shelter. Rogueside used the tax shelter incentive to launch Hidden Through Time 2 thanks to the tax shelter support. While you keep making great games, we’ll continue the dialogue with Cell Tax Shelter to point out the questions and uncertainties you have about the current criteria and rulings of the tax shelter; ultimately resulting in a FAQ.
We also consulted with our counsels on other important legal and fiscal developments, such as the changes to the fiscal copyright remuneration system. Our members joined a free webinar explaining the ins and outs of the changes and offering alternatives for a game studio to implement right away.
The past year brought us some position switches in our board. Dries Deryckere replaced Vicky as representative for Howest/DAE. Robin Gielis (LUCA School of Arts) and Rik Leenknegt (Flanders Game Hub) joined our board whereas Kevin Haelterman (LuGus Studios) and Wim Wouters (Poppins&Wayne) just recently decided to leave us. A big thank you to the existing and present members of our board for their support and dedication and for being the best ambassadors FLEGA could hope for.
Hey FLEGA, what’s up next year?!
At FLEGA we never rest when it comes to boosting our members and the Flemish game sector. With elections coming up in 2024, now is the time to make our wishlist of things to tackle for our beloved game sector. Together with our board, we’re drafting a memorandum that will be sent out to all major political parties as well as the new Ministries once they are in place; putting games on the regional and federal map.
Since we reached the milestone of 10 years existence, we’d thought it would be a good moment to hear your thoughts on what we should do (better). You gave us valuable feedback that we’ll share in the beginning of next year.
Together with VAF|GAME, FIT, the Cabinet of Media, our valuable sponsors Larian, Happy Volcano, Triangle Factory, AMPLO, LuGus Studios and i-illusions as well as your commitment as FLEGA member, we keep on doing what is most important to you: making sure you have access to discounts and events and speaking up for you in important policy matters.
Coming up soon: the first FLEGA café of 2024 in Limburg in February (details to follow) and GDC in March. Keep an eye out for the upcoming FLEGA party in June. And let’s not forget that the Belgian Game Awards will be back next year with FLEGA in the lead. What a year to come ❤️
With that said, we would like to thank you for being part of our FLEGA family and the reason we (David and Natascha) keep on smiling while pushing the Flemish game sector beyond its borders every day. We wish you Happy Holidays, personal victory in all the croquette competitions out there and we’ll be back on January 8 for a new and wonderful year of Flemish Games.