GAME

Six student- and alumni-led game studios have received the DRIVE Award from Uppsala University Innovation, recognising their entrepreneurial drive and the work they are doing to turn game projects into sustainable studios.

The awards were presented at Campus Gotland on 9 September, marking the first time DRIVE recipients have been celebrated on the island. DRIVE is UU Innovation’s recognition for students who have taken their ideas beyond the university and begun creating engagement around them – for example from users, customers, partners or investors.

This time, UU Innovation chose to recognise six of the student-led studios participating in SpawnPoint, a new incubator programme for game studios and creative technology within Hite at Science Park Gotland. The 18-month programme supports teams not only in developing their games, but in building viable studios around them, with coaching and support in areas such as studio formation, funding, publishing and bringing their work to market.

The six DRIVE recipients are:

• Snappy Joints Studio – Ivan Sazonov and Gabriele Stasi, developing Project Paradox
• Gather Studios – Boman Karlsson, Johanna Mäkelä and Dennis Silén, developing Stick Together
• Ferryfolk Studio – Mathies Stöhr, Carl Bjelkelöv, Emil Popovic, Yasser Azzam, Ladan Roohian, Gabriele Stasi, Hadi Derbieh, Emma Klasson, Nils Eriksson, Elias Uddin and Sebastian Ohlsson, developing Hollowtone
• POTIONS! studios – Felix Wernqvist, Artjoms Stepanovs, Hanna Alvelais and Philipp Rossbach, developing SCROOBLIES
• Stargazing Games – Albin Thornell, Mikael Söderman and Jiao Rosenqvist, developing Natura: Reborn
• Worst Combo – Jean Carnesecchi, Dani-Alys Rizal, Miranda Angyal and Alex Schneider, developing Fight the Odds

For students in game development, forming a team and finishing a game is already a considerable undertaking. Turning that team into a studio introduces a different set of challenges: finding an audience, building partnerships, securing funding and publishing opportunities, and creating an organisation capable of continuing beyond a single student project.

SpawnPoint’s first cohort began this summer, with a focus on business development, market validation, financing strategies and connecting the studios to investors and the wider Swedish games industry.

We are very happy to see these teams taking those next steps, and to see their entrepreneurial work recognised by UU Innovation.

Congratulations to Snappy Joints Studio, Gather Studios, Ferryfolk Studio, POTIONS! studios, Stargazing Games and Worst Combo!