Courage XL is the best pre-GDC showcase event in San Francisco, organised by our Dutch friends and supported by our partners FIT and AWEX. Taking place on the eve of GDC24 (Sunday 17th of March), it’s a laid back way to get warmed up before the GDC madness breaks loose on Monday. Check the aftermovie of last year’s edition. You might see some familiar faces 🙂
The concept is pretty simple: play a game, get a beer. Thanks to the generous support of FIT and Awex registration of Belgian devs is free. Moreover, you’ll receive some drink tickets that you’re able to hand out to people that have played your game. Before we throw the doors open for video game enthusiasts from all over the world, there’s an exclusive VIP hour for press and publishers. Better warm up those elevator pitches!
Participating in CourageXL means
a spot to showcase at the best pre-mixer of GDC24
being part of a curated selection of about 50 games
a bar table and power socket all set upon your arrival
showcasing or play-testing your game for over 1000 GDC visitors
€50,- on drink tickets to hand out to your players
being included in a “Meet the Devs” mailing, targeting over 3000 contacts
all warmed up to pitch for the rest of the week
Only 6 spots available in the BelgianGames area so be quick to claim yours
Returning to the awesome nightclub The Great Northern, CourageXL has been a sold-out event in recent years. We expect it to be no different this time, so securing your showcase spotwill be a valuable addition to your GDC experience. Don’t wait to sign up as places are limited. Deadline for registration: February 5th.
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.
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.
gamescom funGDC boothFlemish delegation at PlayStation HQ Courage XL at GDC: Play a game, get a beer.
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 Studiosandi-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.
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.
VAF|GAME announced the results of the third and final funding call for this year. A lot of applications and a lot of positive results! Read on to know who will kickstart next year with some well deserved VAF|GAME funding.
Artistic Games
Diana Monova secured €25.000,- to develop the prototype of her title Beer.
Beeswax Games will produce their next adventure game with a support of €288.500,-.
Entertainment Games
Prototype Support
Rogueside was able to secure €25.000,- to sketch out Best served cold.
Face First Games will be able to prototype their game Shotgun Exterminator with a support of €19.800.
Anaxanthia nailed €18.647,50- of support for The Last Outpost.
Michael Van Ostade will be able to prototype his game Surreal Estate with €24.800,- of support.
Finally, Badbroth secured €20.337,66- for prototyping Daud.
Vertical Slice Support
Eye Blink Twice takes home €74.079,33- worth of support for Time to wake up.
Happy Volcanoreceives €146.521,15- to develop the vertical slice for Modulus.
Sticky Table nailed €65.912,- of support for Portal Seekers.
Open Mid Interactive will be able to develop the vertical slice of Project Province with a support of €64.064,78.
Finally, vertical slice support of €60.000,- for Glowfish Interactive and the title Starcards.
Production Support
Business Goose Studios was able to secure €50.000,- for 30 Birds in co-production with Ram Ram games.
Moonmonsterreceives €250.000,- to develop the game Grimoire Groves in co-production with Stardust.
Promotion Support
Altereyes secured €50.000,- for the promotion of Big Shots.
Serious & Educational Games
Cognition Europe receives €200.000,- to develop the vertical slice of Lunar Strike.
Digitmedia will be able to develop the prototype of AR/VR sailing simulator with the support of €25.000,-
Congrats to everyone who succeeded their submission and received valuable support. The calendar of all VAF|GAME submission calls in 2024 is online. 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 2024.
January 17th, 12 PM
Artistic, Entertainment, Serious & Educational Games
GDC might not yet be the first thing on your mind but if you’d like to join the largest gathering of game developers on the planet, now is the time to get moving. GDC will once again take place in San Francisco from March 18 to 22. Together with Flanders Investment & Trade, we’ve got plenty of incentives for you to cross the ocean and make this conference worthwhile.
Just like previous years, Belgium will have a united presence on the Expo floor with a BelgianGames booth. Exhibiting spaces are limited, so if you are a Flemish game company that wants to have the best shot at presenting your products or services during the biggest b2b games event in the world, this is by far the best offer you’ll get. Pricing is a bit different than last year. Flanders Investment & Trade has pricing models for SME’s and special prices for companies that never participated in GDC. Here are the options at a glance:
Product Sample Booth: €2000,- regular price and €1800,- for newcomers
Your own exhibiting space (approx. 3 sqm) with a table and chairs, screen, locker and personal branding.
All logistics are taken care of. You just have to show up to do your business.
Essentials to beat that jetlag, such as (good) coffee and soft drinks, are provided for.
Exhibitor staff passes for you and your colleagues.
A one-time 25% discount on a conference ticket of your choice.
Access to Meet2Match to schedule meetings upfront.
Your company name and logo in the GDC exhibitor database.
Basic Package (meeting point): €750,- regular price and €500,- for newcomers
Use of meeting rooms on the BelgianGames booth (first come, first served).
Essentials to beat that jetlag, such as (good) coffee and soft drinks, are provided for.
1 Exhibitor staff pass to access the Expo floor.
Access to Meet2Match to schedule meetings upfront.
A one-time 25% discount on a conference ticket of your choice.
There’s also the option of booking a larger space on the joint booth (6sqm). Check all options below.
We’re well aware that the trip across the Atlantic is expensive and that San Francisco isn’t the cheapest place on earth to spend the night, but keep in mind that Flanders Investment & Trade can offer you a refund up to 50% of your travel & accommodation costs. Please make sure to fill out the necessary paperwork (link in Dutch) in advance to do so.
We’re crafting plans for a cool network/showcase event and will share more details at a later time. What’s important now is securing your place on the booth as soon as possible and at the very latest before Nov 15th.
The presence of the #BelgianGamesIndustry at GDC24 wouldn’t be possible without the joint effort of these organisations with a heart for games: thank you FIT & AWEX!
In your mind, a deadline in 2024 might seem far away but it isn’t. Creative Europe launched a new call to support video games and immersive content development and you have until January 24th 2024 to get your submission in. Whispers of experienced studios told us you need quite a bit of preparation time to get your submission right so don’t procrastinate of you’d like to get a chance at securing these funds. After passing an eligibility test, the video games will be judged by independent experts on overall quality, relevance, project management and distribution. Final results will be announced in June 2024.
Creative Europe Media call at a glance
What? An EU funding call to support videogames, XR and audiovisual content development on any digital platform (pc, consoles, mobile, AR/VR…)
How much? There’s a total budget of € 7 million. Grant applications are maxed out at € 200.000 and the contribution can’t exceed 60% of total development costs
For whom? Applicants must be located in Europe and the production or development of video games, entertainment software development or audiovisual productions should be their main activity
Applicants need to have released an eligible videogame on the market between 01/01/2020Â and 1/3/2022
What projects? Eligible projects require a strong narrative component and must have a commercial drive
You can submit online until January 24th 2024 17:00 CET
You’ll know whether or not you receive funding in June 2024