With gamescom 2021 going online-only for the second year in a row, the Dutch Games Association has ramped up the number of participating developers in the Holland Pavilion. Almost 30 companies from The Netherlands are eager to show off their games or services and meet with publishers, investors and players.
What to expect?
There’s a wealth of talent available in The Netherlands. Fantastic projects are looking for publishers, and investment opportunities are plentiful. So what to expect from the LowLands devs? A small selection:
- Tomas Sala has wowed fans and critics alike with his solo project The Falconeer which was nominated for a BAFTA award this year (Best Debut Game). The bearded developer will be at gamescom to seek opportunities to expand The Falconeer’s story, universe and IP beyond video games.
- You may know indie studio Rusty Lake from the eerie and surrealistic world they have created as backdrop for their well known puzzle games and even a movie. Now they are at gamescom to promote their recently launched publishing label Second Maze and latest upcoming title: The Past Within.
- Dutch studios M2H and Blackmill Games are about to release Isonzo, the third entry in their authentic WW1 game series. Earlier games Verdun and Tannenberg covered the Western and Eastern Fronts. Isonzo captures the ferocious Alpine warfare and is a sight to behold.
- Adriaan de Jongh (Hidden Folks) teamed up with Aran Koning (Sokpop) to produce a procedural crossword puzzle with a twist. When Wurdweb came out it shot directly to the top of the Apple Arcade chart.
Acquisitions
The Dutch game industry is growing – and has been steadily doing so since 2017- and saw some high profile acquisitions this year. Koch Media purchased Rotterdam VR studio Vertigo Games for 50 million Euros and later went on to purchase a second Dutch VR studio – Force Field VR – and merged them into Vertigo Games. This summer, Sony acquired Dutch studio Nixxes to provide high quality in-house technical and development capabilities for PlayStation Studios. The industry veterans have worked on huge franchises including the PC version of several Tomb Raider titles. It underscores the maturity and professionalism of Dutch game development studios.
The Netherlands may be small but it’s a great place for game development. That goes for small indie studios and major AAA companies alike, with a well educated and motivated workforce, high living standards and modern infrastructure. What’s more, the country is ideally located at the crossroads of Western Europe and the rest of the world.
MeetToMatch
If you like what you see, make sure to get in touch with these Dutch studios and discuss publishing deals, investment opportunities or other topics through the MeetToMatch platform.
Sign up for MeetToMatch – the Cologne Edition 2021 – (during gamescom / devcom) with 15% discount using coupon MTMsummer21
