Early and Mid-Stage developers encouraged to apply
Indielab Games announces the launch of its next UK-wide programme, the Indielab Games UK Accelerator 2024, and will be welcoming applications from ambitious studios from across the UK.
The three-month accelerator, will help games studios unlock potential, grow, innovate, attract publishing partners and succeed. The Indielab 2024 Games Accelerator has been redesigned this year to focus not only on developing studios growth plans, but also to accelerate participant’s publisher pitches and development of their game playables, culminating in an opportunity to pitch to a room full of leading publishers at an exclusive two- day event hosted by Indielab games and Unity HQ to coincide with Develop:Brighton.
Throughout the accelerator the cohort will hear from notable games developers and have an exclusive opportunity to pitch their playables to a selection of leading UK and international publishers, including ID@Xbox, Chucklefish, Raw Fury, Secret Mode with many more still to come.
Applications are invited from any UK-headquartered games business with a pitch and a playable, keen to secure a publishing deal. Applications open today and close on 9 April, each application will be reviewed and the 10 to 15 successful studios/participants will be alerted ahead of the programme launch in May. Programme modules will run from May until July.
Victoria Powell, CEO of Indielab, says: “We’re delighted to bring our Games Accelerator back for 2024, following the success of our games accelerators in 2022 and 2023. This year our accelerator, supported by our partners, will offer bespoke, high-level masterclasses for the UK’s emerging games studios, giving guidance to help drive studio growth and success, and culminating in an exciting Pitch to Publishers event at Unity HQ in Brighton, to coincide with Develop, one of the UK’s leading Games Developer events.
Indielab’s job is to accelerate growth, connectors studios to knowledge, and to provide pathways to partnerships and investment. We’re here for the long term and committed to working with studios and the wider sector to enable real transformation.”
2024’s Indielab Games UK Accelerator is delivered in partnership with Creative Wales, Creative Scotland, Unity, Glasgow City Council, Moore Kingston Smith, Barclays and Harbottle & Lewis. The acceleration programme is considerably subsidised, and additional bursaries are also available to help cover participation fees for companies headquartered in Scotland and Wales.
Find out more and apply by Tuesday 9 April 2024.
Gerwyn Evans, Deputy Director, Creative Wales, said: “Creative Wales is committed to supporting ambition and talent in Wales across the creative industries, including our thriving games sector. We’re delighted to be a partner of Indielab again this year and to be able to provide bursaries for selected ambitious Welsh studios. We want our support to boost the Welsh games sector, helping it reach its huge potential and create opportunities for people of all backgrounds to break into the industry and create world- class gaming entertainment”.
Morgan Petrie, Creative Industries Manager at Creative Scotland commented: “We are delighted to be supporting the Indielab Games Accelerator to help develop Scotland’s vibrant video game sector. The programme aims to enable a new cohort of Scottish games companies with the skills, networks, investment base and growth potential to help bolster Scotland as a destination for video game excellence.”
Elena Höge, founder at Yaldi Games (Out and About), was part of the 2023 UK Games Accelerator cohort and secured kickstarter funding for Out and About during the duration of the programme.
She comments: “My time on the Indielab Games accelerator last year was incredibly valuable. All of the classes, speakers and panels were excellent. I’ve been part of a lot of accelerators across tech and games but none were as good as this one! The opportunity to refine and practice your business & game pitches in an encouraging yet critical environment really enabled us to focus our offering. I feel Indielab is one of the few accelerators that also focuses on some of the harsh truths of game development and how to build a business in spite of them. I would absolutely recommend you to apply.”
The Indielab Games UK Accelerator 2024 will be delivered through an innovative series of masterclasses, seminars, events and showcases, with leading experts drawn from across the games industry. Respected facilitators Oscar Clark and Ella Romanos will lead the delivery team, alongside other specialist speakers and trainers. Furthermore the Games Accelerator cohort will have access to a free legal helpdesk provided by leading law firm Harbottle & Lewis and a free financial helpdesk provided by leading accountancy firm Moore Kingston Smith. The 2024 Accelerator closes with studios having refined their pitches, materials and growth plan for a publisher pitch event at Unity Technologies headquarters in Brighton to coincide with the annual Develop:Brighton event.
Luke Evans, Senior Client Partner at Unity Technologies says: “Fostering creativity and providing opportunity is crucial to the growth of the games sector and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Indielab Games for this accelerator to support ambitious up and coming games studios.
Talented game developers on Indielab’s accelerator will have the opportunity to showcase their groundbreaking products to a great line-up of amazing publishers. We’re excited to be hosting Indielab’s exclusive Publisher Pitch Event at the Unity Brighton office and are looking forward to meeting this year’s exciting cohort in the near future.”
Kostyantyn Lobov, Partner, Harbottle & Lewis said: "We are delighted to once again be sponsoring and taking part in the Indielab UK-wide Games Accelerator. Indies are the grassroots of the industry and, as a go-to provider of legal services in this space, we recognise the need to invest time to support them through the early stages. We look forward to meeting the latest group of promising startups with whom we can share our expertise.”
Indielab Games is a division of Indielab, the widely acclaimed provider of bespoke growth accelerators for the UK’s screen sector. Since its inception in 2015, Indielab has supported more than 200 independent creative businesses and their founders.
Background
About Creative Wales
Creative Wales is an economic development agency within Welsh Government that supports the development of the fast-growing creative industries in Wales. We focus on promoting growth across TV, Film and Animation; Games, VFX and Post- production; Music and Comedy and Publishing, positioning Wales as one of the best places in the world for creative businesses to thrive. We invest in creating opportunities for people in the industry by supporting Skills and Talent initiatives for young people and our talented workforce; we fund projects that boost infrastructure and creative businesses, provide specialist advice and actively promote sustainability, diversity and equality for all across the creative sectors. We are passionate about supporting home-grown talent and attracting international creative projects to Wales. In doing so, we are strengthening the industry in the long term and creating exciting opportunities for future generations. For more information visit creative.wales and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
About Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
About Glasgow City Council
Glasgow City Council is the largest local authority in Scotland with the mission of supporting a fair and sustainable city where everyone gets to contribute, and all can benefit from a flourishing Glasgow. Find out more at www.glasgow.gov.uk.
About Harbottle and Lewis
Harbottle & Lewis is a Tier 1 ranked full-service law firm with a focus on the technology, media and entertainment sectors. We are based in London, although most of our work is international in nature. Being a market leader within video games and esports work is a core part of our strategy and we have been advising studios, publishers and other clients in this space since the days of the 8-bit console. Our clients range in size from individual talent and indie start-ups, all the way to global AAA publishers. We are particularly known for our industry awareness and ability to deliver advice which is pragmatic, easy to understand and alive to the particular sensitivities of the games industry.
About Moore Kingston Smith
We understand the challenging and fast evolving landscape that media technology and CreaTech businesses operate in. We can combine both professional and commercial expertise, ensuring you get the best advice tailored for the industry you operate in. We provide an extensive range of compliance services, including audit and accountancy, tax, business outsourcing and payrollsolutions as well as strategic advisory services and bespoke advice.
About Unity Technologies
Unity is the world’s leading platform for creating and growing interactive, real-time 3D ("RT3D") content and experiences. Our comprehensive set of software and AI solutions supports content creators of all sizes through the entire development lifecycle as they build, run, and grow immersive, real-time 2D and 3D content and experiences for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. For more information, visit Unity.com.
About Indielab Games
Indielab Games is a division of Indielab, the well-established and widely acclaimed provider of Accelerator programmes for the UK’s content creation sector. Through regional and national programmes that combine bespoke masterclasses, seminars, and events – all delivered by industry leaders and experts – Indielab’s programmes equip companies with the knowledge, skills and networks needed to achieve their full potential. Through workshops, lectures, panel discussions, networking events and one-to-one sessions, developers and studios gain valuable insight into, and training in, a range of subjects, including leadership, commercial innovation, business planning, distribution, revenue-stream maximisation, corporate finance and investment readiness.
In 2020, Indielab launched Indielab Connect, a social network and event platform for Indielab alumni. Indielab Connect is available online and as a downloadable mobile app. For more information about Indielab Games, please visit: www.indielabgames.co.uk