Stugan
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | THE GAME TRAIL AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 500 000 |
| Project duration | November 2014 - August 2015 |
| Status | Completed |
Important results from the project
Stugan is aiming to help new game developers to find their way into the games industry. This summer 23 game developers from all over the world spent together 8 weeks in the middle of the beautiful Swedish nature. They stayed there for free and all they had to worry about was to focus on their games. They got help from mentors, experts from the games industry, who came to visit Stugan regularly. An essential part of the project was media attention, which is important for the game developers, because they need people who hear about their games and will play them.
Expected long term effects
-Networking: Mentors Participants (teams very eager to help each other, playtest, give a feedback) One participant got employed by a Swedish games company One participant got flown to a conference by two mentors visiting Stugan -Media attention: All major game press Mainstream media (Wall Street Journal, Fortune; Swedish media: SVT, TV4, DN, DI, Swedish Radio) Attention to the teams, the project and to Sweden as a hub for making great games YouTube channel with videos documenting the 8 weeks Workshop for Trafikverket, big media interest for the winning project (Imgur over 0,5M views)
Approach and implementation
We had to polish the initial idea and come up with a concept of a non-profit games accelerator. We started last year in June and had one year to figure out and prepare everything. From finding the finances, location, getting the press and finally finding the participants. What we learnt during the first year was that this concept of an accelerator, in a middle of Swedish nature where the participants keep the rights to their games, is rather unique and works well and we should try to preserve it as it is.