Malmö’s new game program has kicked off, and it did so with a masterclass by international indie game expert Jason Della Rocca. Now the participating companies are chasing the shared goal: To build the next world-class game from Malmö.
Minc Game kicked off on September 1 with a masterclass from international indie game expert Jason Della Rocca. As with a lot of the Minc Game content, the masterclass was open to everyone in the game development community. However, the follow-up workshops after the open talks are exclusive to the Minc Game company participants.
The companies in the first Minc Game batch are Round Table Society, Flotsam Interactive, Bricks and Balls, Deleted Cookie, Playtrigger Games, and Build at One.
– The companies are all at a similar stage of development, which means they can also learn from one another along the way, making the program even more relevant for all the companies. For the program, we wanted companies we believe can become ready to pitch to publishers or investors, or to self-publish, by the end of the program. That is a high bar, and it's meant to be. We expect a lot from these companies, and they should expect a lot from us, says Renée Jessen, Portfolio Lead Games at Minc.
"That is a high bar, and it's meant to be. We expect a lot from these companies..."
Developing ambitious games
The six Minc Game companies are currently all hard at work developing their respective games. Some of the companies have been in the industry for a few years, some are newly founded. Most of the companies’ staff members have at least a few years of experience in the games industry, for instance from established companies such as Massive Entertainment, Sharkmob, Thunderful, and EB Studio. All of the companies in the Minc Game program are building ambitious games that have a chance to become significant successes.
Learn more about the games the companies are currently developing:
Cold at Dawn
By Round Table Society
In Cold at Dawn, vampire clans huddle around a dying CryoTower, racing to survive a scorching desert apocalypse. Players build, research and make brutal calls to keep rival clans from tearing the colony apart before the sun does.
Maregrosso
By Flotsam Interactive
Maregrosso brings the Sicilian swordfishing tradition to life in an asymmetric co-op horror game where trust (and nerve) keeps you alive in the deep.
Find out more and wishlist the game
Gunwhale
By Bricks and Balls
Gunwhale is a 2–4 player co-op experience where you and your crew pilot a submersible through monster-infested deep-sea waters. Take on missions, work interactive control panels together and discover what lurks below. It's made for simulator fans who like a bit of survival horror in the mix.
Plague Crew
By Deleted Cookie
Plague Crew is a 1–4 player co-op horror-comedy where you play tiny plague doctors roaming infected medieval villages. Investigate symptoms, craft questionable cures and survive whatever happens when your "treatment" backfires. Think Lethal Company meets R.E.P.O., but with leeches.
Find out more and wishlist the game
More about the company
Chess Strike
By Playtrigger Games
Chess Strike reinvents competitive chess as a multiplayer skirmish. The rules feel familiar, but the goal is new: be the last player standing.
More about the game
More about the company
Standard Procedure
By Build at One
Standard Procedure is a co-op espionage game where you and your friends take on the government's dirtiest jobs, earning cash and racing to clear your debt before time runs out. It blends the hangout vibe of RV There Yet with the mission-based progression of Backrooms: Escape Together, for a mix of teamwork and emergent chaos.
Find out more and wishlist the game
Business and creative
As part of the Minc Game program, the companies will take part in masterclasses, workshops, and one-on-one sessions with experienced founders and industry experts. The program covers both the business side of game development, and the craft of making games.
International games industry experts such as Jason Della Rocca, and Rami Ismail, as well as regional industry leaders such as Andreas Johnsson, Co-founder and Creative Director at Tarsier Studios, and Astrid Refstrup, CEO at Wings Interactive, are among the program’s guest speakers.
"... enough momentum to carry them forward to their next big milestone."
– The program is designed to support and lift the participants’ learning and development so that they can move faster, with better results. Our aim is to have the companies leave the program with a clear business plan, ready to take in capital, and with enough momentum to carry them forward to their next big milestone, says Jesper Krogh Kristiansen, Business & Growth Manager at Game Habitat.
The current Minc Game program concludes in January.
The Minc Game program
Minc Game is Malmö’s program for game development companies. The program provides participating companies based in South Sweden with tools and training to launch or scale their business, and to create world-class games and game-related products. Minc Game is run by Minc and Game Habitat and supported by the City of Malmö.
When the first Minc Game batch concludes in January, additional programs will follow in the new year. Alongside the first Minc game program batch, a pilot where individual game developers looking to form new companies have been running, find more about that work and the results here.