This should be of interest to all start ups and small local companies. I am sure more details on how to apply etc. will emerge soon. (Aphra)

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Today Games Ireland has announced the establishment of a new game-specific incubator called ‘GamesSpace’ which will be based with Pulse College/Windmill Lane Recording Studios in the IFSC in Dublin.

The announcement came as the organisation runs the second Games Ireland Gathering (GIG 2013) today, the 28th of March, which is taking place this year at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in association with Microsoft’s Gaming Re-Imagined event.

In order to encourage the growth of the thriving game start-up industry in Ireland, Games Ireland whose members include Digit Studios, Riot Games, Havok, Microsoft, EA, Activision, Demonware and Big Fish Games, has established GameSpace to provide a central development and meeting hub for exciting, young game companies.

It is with the support of these Games Ireland members and Enterprise Ireland that the initial pilot GamesSpace has been established.

The space will provide hotdesks for up to thirty companies as well as individual offices for anchor game companies, including the first start-up tenants of the incubator: Powwow Studios, Six Minute, bitSmith Games and Batcat Games (the last two of whom are co-located with Digit.)

Further co-located incubators with Games Ireland member companies will be established until a larger premises for all anchor start-up companies is available.

GameSpace also provides a meeting area for prospective publishers, partners and investors to meet with the most promising game companies. GameSpace will create greater synergy between start-up companies and further momentum for the burgeoning games development industry in Ireland who have been scattered in locations throughout the country until now.

The establishment of GameSpace is part of a wider framework envisaged by Games Ireland that will also encompass an accelerator programme, GamePad, which will seek to fast-track younger game companies for graduation to GameSpace. Games Ireland will look to attain greater support for this wider infrastructure and a larger home for GameSpace participants in the coming months.

The global trend towards multi-platform, online, browser and mobile device-based gaming platforms has opened up a market of upwards of a billion potential customers worldwide. Games Ireland hopes to encourage talented Irish start-up game companies to take advantage of this trend and enable them to become commercially successful enterprises.

GameSpace is a major, innovative step in providing the support needed. “The establishment of the pilot incubator GameSpace is an essential step in the development of the indigenous games industry and is key to Games Ireland’s number one goal – growing the Irish game sector at all its levels.’ said David Sweeney, Games Ireland’s CEO ‘

For more info:

To register your interest please contact mark@gamesireland.ie

To enter the GamesSpace you must be either an incorporated company or have released one game.

See http://gamesireland.ie/wordpress/games-ireland-gathering-gig-2013/

See http://win8gaming.eventbrite.ie/#