Founded in Hamar, Norway, in 2013 by the indie studios Moondrop, Sarepta, and Krillbite, Hamar Game Collective aims to build a sustainable games industry in Norway.
When the general managers and CEOs of Moondrop, Sarepta Studio, and Krillbite Studio decided to launch Hamar Game Collective in 2013, the three studios had just left the same incubation program. Because the three studios still wanted to work together, they decided to launch their own game collective in Hamar, Norway.
And according to Runa Haukland, Captain at the Hamar Game Collective, the collaboration between the studios within the collective is what makes it so unique.
Runa Haukland from Hamar Game Collective
“The main goal of Hamar Game Collective is to build a sustainable games industry. Most of the companies face the same challenges, and we believe HGC can help them solve some of these. We want the developers to become better at what they do, and so we’ve gathered them all in one place so we can create an environment where they can grow and share and learn and work.”, Haukland says to NordicGameBits.
The Norwegian games industry is still small, but because there is so little direct competition between the studios in Norway, Haukland believes that the individual studios are more willing to stick together, forming a collectively stronger front against the global market. “When HGC was founded, we recognized that we face a lot of the same challenges, and that if we’re in it together anyway we might as well help each other.”, Haukland says.
“There’s a good culture for sharing in the Norwegian games industry, and we’re always happy for the success of others. When we’re located in the same place it’s easier to get instant feedback on your projects, and a playtester is never far away. It’s also easier for us to organize events like talks and workshops when we’re all in the same place, and this gives the companies more resources to develop their games.”
The game collective is already seeing great success. When the nominees for the Nordic Game Awards 2015 were revealed last week, all of the games released by studios based in the Hamar Game Collective made the list. Yes, all of them.
And according to Runa, this really proves that pooling talented people together in one place will make good things happen.
James Portnow together with some of the Collective
“We’re all like-minded people, but at the same time there’s a lot of different approaches to making a game. The games would probably be made anyway, and Hamar Game Collective can’t take the credit for the games themselves
The developers have always been good at what they do, but we think that when we put all this talent together in one place where they can discuss, talk and bounce ideas off each other, good things will happen. And good things do happen.“
Read more about: All the nominees for Nordic Game Awards 2015
Everyone based in or around Hamar, Norway, can join the game collective, as long as they work with games in some way or another. Runa does emphasize, however, that the scope of Hamar Game Collective is to create something great on a local level, instead of simply growing quickly in size.
“We’re scoping small to begin with, and even though we know that there’s a lot of awesome developers around, it wouldn’t be practical for e.g. a developer in northern Norway to be a part of HGC.”, Runa concludes.