Amsterdam is a well known city in the Netherlands and sometimes even more popular than the country itself. However, there are many other great cities the Netherlands has to offer. One of them is Utrecht. Based in centre of the country it’s not a big city, as it counts only 300.000 people, but it still makes up for the fourth largest city in the Netherlands. It is a city with a long history and an important historical centre.
Even if it is on the fourth place in terms of population, Utrecht is arguably the biggest in terms of the Dutch gaming industry. It helps new initiatives, supports new ideas and financially helps new businesses. It plays host to a number of important events. In June there is the Festival of Games which is aimed at the business side. It is a blend of all branches in the industry that come together to share knowledge, network and make deals. In the end of April the Indigo event took place which showcased independent and innovative Dutch game-design to the public.
The latter was launched by the Dutch Game Garden (DGG) which is also supported by the local government. DGG is formed to accelerate the growth of the Dutch game industry by providing wide-ranging support for starting and established game developers. Projects include The Developers Club that acts as platform for both professionals and students and the Game Company Incubator that supports young entrepreneurs to set up their business. The incubator program helped the graduate-startup Ronimo to ship their highly successful and first Wiiware title: Swords and Soldiers.
Utrecht also takes care of game students and researchers. A large scale project called GATE (Game Research for Games and Entertainment) is an ambitious multi-million euro funded research program that started at the end of 2007. GATE is a collaboration between different educational institutes such as the University of Utrecht and Utrecht School of the Arts. The ambition of the GATE project is to develop an international competitive knowledge base with respect to game technology, and to train the talent required to enhance the productivity and competitive edge of small and medium-sized creative industrial companies. The project will substantially improve the competitiveness of companies producing (tools for) games and simulations by providing direct access to new technology and by technology transfer projects.
Last but certainly not least is that Utrecht has been the stage for the annual Dutch Gaming Championship in the past years and will be this year as well. The E-sportbond works closely together with the local government to host a bigger and better event each year.
These are some examples of the commitment to gaming Utrecht has. If you ever find yourself in the Netherlands, you might want to check out this creative city as well!
