Meet Game Sr.: The First Israeli Gaming Incubator

A new venture aimed at helping local creators, creators and startups develop independent games of cultural and commercial value

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28/03/2022

Monday, 28 March 2022, 15:05 Updated: 15:11

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Bezalel - Jerusalem Academy of Design and Art, in collaboration with the School of Engineering and Computer Science at the Hebrew University, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Social Space Association and Ironsource, will launch the first incubator for independent creation of games in Israel.

Meet Game Sr. - a non-profit, non-profit organization that aims to help local creators and startups develop games of both cultural and commercial value.

The first start-up cycle of the incubator will begin operations on April 3 and will end on June 30, 2022 in the old Shaare Zedek building, in Jerusalem.

The building is a recently renovated conservation building and serves as a cultural center.  

Five groups of creators will be accepted for the first cycle and will enjoy financial support, joint work space, accompaniment and advice from leading mentors, lectures and meetings with key figures in the gaming industry, support and infrastructure for business and marketing in the local and international market, connection to investors, collaborations and more.

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The old Shaare Zedek building in Jerusalem (Photo: Rimona Traub)

As part of the incubator's commitment to encourage the business and social success of its participants, at least one of the groups you choose will represent the creators and creators of a population in under-representation or undertake to develop a game with a social purpose. 

, Director of the Incubator and Head of Gaming Studies at Bezalel and the Hebrew University: "This project is a huge message to the Israeli gaming industry. For several years we have been developing the first and unique academic track in Israel for gaming studies The Computer Science Program - Games at the Hebrew University ".

"The incubator harnesses the best creators and facilitators from academia and the world, the expertise and professionalism of our partners from the industry, and provides for the first time independent infrastructure and funding options to support the creation of local independent games. The talent in Israel is amazing. We thank all partners and are excited.

Danny Beacon, director of the incubator and head of acting studies at Bezalel and the Hebrew University (Photo: PR)

How did the idea for the project come about?

More than six years ago, we established the first and unique academic track in Israel at Bezalel to study the field of games, and you can already see world-class results.

At the same time, we started working on a number of other projects, such as the program we opened this year at the Hebrew University of Computer Science-Games, which works in sync and collaboration with the Bezalel Games track.

Israel is a world leader in certain gaming markets and there is a lot of knowledge and expertise, but there are still big holes in the possibilities for creators.

There are almost no indie companies, there is perhaps one company that does Double A, and there are no companies at all for Triple A games.

Part of the role of the academy is to work with the market and we realized that the platform we created in Bezalel and Hebrew and all the talent that is going to go on the market can be part of it. 

We started working on this project five years ago, among other things, we interviewed companies and creators and researched other markets with similar characteristics that were hugely successful, such as Poland, Finland and Switzerland.

Issues we have seen recurring are first and foremost the need for funding sources, working space with a supportive community, logistical and legal support, professional accompaniment and an international network of contacts, and this is what we are building in the new gaming incubator - Game Sr.

The old Shaare Zedek building in Jerusalem (Photo: Daniel Hanoch)

How were the creators chosen?

Teams of up to five artists were required to apply for one of three tracks, or for another special track of social change, the teams submitted many materials and passed interviews.

The three tracks represent three stages in game development - concept development, vertical slice development (finite mechanisms and art), and production for publication.

Subsequently, a support program is planned for each phase on its own, but we have currently opened a start-up cycle that includes all the options of the routes together.

First and foremost we have selected teams that we believe can achieve great results, and if you look at the world of game creation between high-tech and cinema then you understand that it is difficult to know the answer to who will succeed.

We looked at the teams, their proposal, their background and proven experience.

And in this start-up cycle we also had an important consideration of our diversity and learning, so the choice was a riddle of balances between many other dimensions - diversity in project stages, team size, proposed game genres, and also choosing at least one team representing a social agenda and more.

Who are the consultants and talents taking part in the project?

We have built a program whose fundamental principle is to allow teams work time, while in the process we provide infrastructure and a variety of mentors and content that they can utilize, according to their needs.

At the forefront of mentors I will give two examples from the business angle that is often actually neglected by teams that create with the great passion of game creators.

I mentioned earlier the leverage of local professionalism and expertise, this is one of the meeting points with a company like Ironsource, an Israeli company that is actually one of the world's leading platforms for mobile application and game developers.

Omri Halamish, VP Global Operations, coordinates the incubator on their behalf, will personally accompany projects from the business angle and will connect teams to various consultants within the organization as needed.

Ironsource works with the largest gaming companies in the world on a regular basis and these assets will be available to teams working in the incubator.

An example of another mentor from the business angle is Jason Della Roca who will provide hours of personal counseling and guidance to staff.

Jason is very experienced, has served for about ten years as the director of IGDA, the global organization of indie game creators, he founded Execution Labs in Canada and is a very well known figure in the global community.

The old Shaare Zedek building in Jerusalem (Photo: Daniel Hanoch)

What is the ambition?

Where are you aiming for?

AAA developments?

mobile?

Maybe indie?

The ambition is to help create excellent Israeli gaming companies, small and large, to encourage independent creation and commercial success of computer games based on content and experience.

We are agnostic to a platform or genre, although we do focus on independent games (indie) rather than triple A in terms of scope.

It's not that we prefer indie or triple A and not the other way around, and of course we would like to see triple A game companies also formed in Israel, but it is strategically more correct to start from indie and build infrastructure, knowledge and teams from there that can work on larger projects.

Even in cinema you would not now try to produce one of the following Marvel movies here, not because there is no talent, just such a production requires an entire ecosystem that supports it like effects companies and the like.

Jerusalem, for example, has the film and television venture that has been promoting animation and effects studios for years and is already making Disney movies there, and now I just heard that they are working on setting up an effects studio, so it's on its way.

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