Utrecht, September 6, 2024

After 17 years of being a leading incubator and cluster organization for the Dutch games industry, Dutch Game Garden regretfully announces that it will close its doors as of January 2025. This decision was made due to changes in opportunities and focus for public funding, which makes it no longer possible to realize a balanced budget that allows the continuation of activities in a responsible manner.

Since its foundation in 2008, Dutch Game Garden has developed itself into a cornerstone of the Dutch games industry. The organization has played a crucial role in the growth and development of countless start-ups and established game companies. Over the years, more than 130 companies have participated in its incubation program. More than 150 companies have had an office in Dutch Game Garden’s cluster, allowing them to pursue and realize their creative ideas. Successful companies from this ecosystem include Tover, Studio Deloryan, and Abbey Games.

Dutch Game Garden has always provided fertile ground for innovation and collaboration within the entire Dutch games industry, from students and start-ups to established triple-A studios. The annual event INDIGO is a prime example of this. What started as a small showcase for student games, had grown throughout 15 editions into an indispensable game business event that brought together the entire Dutch games industry and gave new talents and businesses a platform to connect. Additionally, Dutch Game Garden played a key role in mapping the sector through the Games Monitor. The organization was involved in various innovation projects with knowledge institutions in the Netherlands and Europe.

Peter Laanen, Chairman of the Board: “It is with a heavy heart that we have had to make this decision. We are proud of what we have achieved over the past 17 years and the effect that our efforts have had on the Dutch games industry. Unfortunately, we are now forced to close our doors, but we look back with satisfaction on everything we have accomplished together.”

Jan-Pieter van Seventer, managing director: “In the coming months, several regular activities, such as the successful Network Lunches, will continue as planned. We thank all our partners, employees, companies, and the entire game community for their support and trust during all these years.”

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Based in the Netherlands, Studio Deloryan, known for the popular horse management game ‘Horse Reality’, has received an investment from Belgian venture capitalist ForsVC.

Launched in late 2018 with a modest 13,000 players in the first month, ‘Horse Reality’ has since grown to a community of 350,000+ registered players worldwide, with an average of 50,000 active monthly players. This growth highlights the potential of the Dutch games industry, says founder Deloryan Hommers. “Our story demonstrates that there are countless opportunities in this sector, especially when you receive the right support.”

Starting out as a hobby project at the kitchen table of Deloryan’s student loft, it has grown into a fully-fledged company. While there were plenty of realistic sports games, like managing a soccer team, there was nothing comparable for horse lovers. Therefore, Deloryan developed the game she wanted to play herself. The result became ‘Horse Reality’, a game that focused on genetics and strategic breeding for colours and traits.

As the game’s popularity grew, so did the team behind Studio Deloryan. The studio now has about ten team members, most of which came from the game’s passionate community. “The dedication and passion our staff show are unparalleled, especially since many of them were fans of the game before joining the creative process,” she adds.

Despite the success, there were also challenges. High expectations from players, driven by the exceptional quality of the artwork, posed a hurdle. Despite being a small team, Studio Deloryan was initially compared to triple-A game studios. The game’s popularity also presented scalability issues due to technical limitations, Deloryan points out.

“Studio Deloryan immediately stood out for ForsVC because of its team that managed to create an exceptional game within its own niche entirely with its own resources and immediately build a strong community in it according to principles that make the company extremely scalable,” says Arne Ottoy, Managing Partner at ForsVC.

Thanks to ForsVC’s financial support, Studio Deloryan can now implement both technological and content improvements. “Our collaboration with ForsVC came to be after several discussions and considerations. Their vision and expertise align with our own ambitions. We’re also pleased that they mainly play a supporting role, allowing us to retain control and artistic vision. Besides financing, ForsVC brings in-depth knowledge that can help us achieve our growth plans,” says Deloryan.

“Thanks to the incubator ‘Dutch Game Garden’, we got in touch with ForsVC, a crucial step for our further growth. Dutch Game Garden has played a pivotal role in the growth of the Dutch games industry by guiding start-ups and connecting them with valuable partners,” Deloryan says. JP van Seventer, managing director at Dutch Game Garden, remarks: “We’re proud to have this decisive entrepreneur in our game cluster who we’ve seen grow her studio and game for the past 4 years.”

With the capital, Studio Deloryan has big plans. By 2024, they plan to have a team of 15 employees. Thus, the completion of the foundational elements of ‘Horse Reality’, strengthening the technological infrastructure and mobile optimization is at the forefront of their future agenda.

Dutch Game Garden is pleased to announce the appointment of Collin van Ginkel as our new Incubation Manager, following the departure of Aryeh Loeb. Collin will host his first Incubation session at Dutch Game Garden in Utrecht on June 7th.

“Aryeh has been an integral part of Dutch Game Garden for the past 4.5 years, during which he has supported 75 game development companies. His passion for the industry and his commitment to helping young developers succeed has been inspiring to us all. Aryeh’s departure leaves a big void, but we wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” says JP van Seventer, Managing Director.

In his exit interview, Aryeh shared some advice for Collin as he takes on the role of Incubation Manager. “I trust that Collin will know exactly what to do,” Aryeh said. “But an important lesson for me was to realize that for young developers, awareness of a certain topic is paramount. As the saying goes: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’ And this is very true for a lot of companies in Incubation. Collin, like myself, will probably want to share all of his knowledge and of the experts that join us, but it’s just not possible to become experts in a certain topic in the little amount of time we have with the studios. So if Collin can make sure that companies have good awareness, even if they’re not experts, that is a very important first step.”

Collin is a seasoned game developer and advisor who has made the transition from game development to an advisory role over the last few years. He has helped other teams who are starting out or who could use a fresh perspective from an outsider. When asked what led him to apply for the position of Incubation Manager, Collin said, “The position of Incubation Manager fits my recent shift towards helping other teams perfectly. My goal is to use the experience I gained over the last two decades to help others avoid the same mistakes I made, while still passing on the lessons learned!”

Collin is excited to take on this new role and has some big plans for the future of Dutch Game Garden’s incubation program. “I think having good people skills is essential to being a good Incubation Manager,” he said. “The program incubates roughly 20 studios at any given time. This means I’ll have to understand and communicate with a wide range of personality types and group structures. While I’m definitely up for the challenge, the world has changed quite a bit since I stopped running my own studio Two Tribes in 2016. I hope everyone will cut me some slack if I slip up and allow me to learn a bit on the job!”

When asked what sets Dutch Game Garden apart from other game incubators, Collin said, “I think the Dutch spirit prevails in the Dutch Game Garden’s incubation program. Some people might need to get used to the way the Dutch handle things, and there might be some downsides to it, but you can always expect us to be upfront and honest about important issues. You’ll always know where you stand and I’ve noticed we are quite unique like that! As for Aryeh’s legacy, I’ll adopt his formula at first and tweak it where it better suits me or the needs of the people involved. My background is firmly in development, so I expect to lean a bit more into that side as time goes by.”

We are sad to see Aryeh go, but we are excited to welcome Collin to our team. We look forward to the new ideas and perspectives he will bring to the role of Incubation Manager and the future of our incubation program. On May 3rd, people will have the opportunity to meet Collin van Ginkel during the Dutch Game Garden Network Lunch at Dotslash.

From every experience of setting up and running a business valuable lessons can be learned. Dutch Game Garden’s new publication GameBiz Stories is here to collect and preserve these stories. The current edition explores funding strategies.

With the maturing of the Dutch games industry, the range of funding strategies has widened too. Where bootstrapping once seemed the only way forward to maintain creative freedom, in the last years more and more examples of different funding strategies emerged.

The goal of this magazine is to inspire game developers about outside investment as another valid way of growing a game company. However, the stories we have collected cover all sorts of funding journeys: from starting up by bootstrapping to using project- and equity funding. Six interviews with (former) game business owners tell the tales of how they went about financing their companies and projects. Some show how investments helped to grow businesses, others are cautionary tales  – but all are meant to inspire you.  

The magazine closes with an overview of the growth of the Dutch games industry in the last 3 years and connects the dots between a maturing industry and the rising number of outside investment deals. And as there is no one way to go about funding a business (what works for one person, might be a disaster for another), an overview of key takeaways has been added to preserve the lessons learned.

The digital magazine is out now: request your copy here. The printed magazine will be presented at the Network Lunch on December 7.

We hope you enjoy these GameBiz Stories!

The Games Monitor reports on the trends and developments in the Dutch game industry. Key facts and figures from a new survey conducted earlier this year will be presented at Dutch Game Day.

The Games Monitor is published every three years and reports on the trends and developments for applied and entertainment games in The Netherlands, such as the number of companies, jobs and game students. The latest survey was conducted at the beginning of 2022 and covers the developments in the Dutch game industry in 2021. The new key facts and figures will be presented at the Dutch Game Day on October 6 in Hilversum by DGG Operations Manager Christel van Grinsven.

The Games Monitor 2022 is the 4th edition of the Games Monitor and follows on the Games Monitor 2018 and the extra Covid-update 2020. The full report will be published later this year.

Partners
The Games Monitor 2022 is presented by Dutch Game Garden, Dutch Games Association and the Video Game Federation of The Netherlands (VGFN).