NGDC Season IV updates – Nordic Game Discovery Contest

Freja and the False Prophecy wins NGDC in South Africa

NGDC — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 04:00:22 +0000

Last year the Nordic Game Discovery Contest debuted with a qualifier at the Make Games Africa event in Cape Town. The South African game Drawkanoid won and went on to take the NGDC Season III Game of the Year at NG19.

So last week’s eighth round of the NGDC Season IV in South Africa was highly anticipated, not only by the NGDC organisers but also by the NGDC hosts Playtopia/Make Games Africa and this year’s three contestants.

With exciting new games on display and a string of great talks, Playtopia MGA really showcased the incredible growth of the local South African dev community, with the NGDC itself receiving very enthusiastic support.

The three contestants in Cape Town did a great job pitching their games on stage, but one exceptional team and title stole the hearts of the judges and audience – Unsigned Double Collective and their Nordic action adventure platformer Freja and the False Prophecy.

Check out the teaser trailer:

With Freja and the False Prophecy, South Africa delivers another strong contender to the NGDC finals in Malmö. A big congratulations to Unsigned Double Collective on their victory and a huge thank you to the organisers of Playtopia/Make Games Africa for another outstanding event.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, Nordic Game Ventures, Karmafy, Microsoft, DDM and 80 Level.

About Xsolla
Xsolla ensures the best ideas get made, get seen and get played. Launch, monetize and scale with Xsolla tools and services. Learn more at xsolla.com.

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About Plan of Attack
Working with the right media at the right time, Plan of Attack helps organisations tell their stories and generate the most value from their projects. Learn more at planofattack.biz.

About Matchmade
Matchmade is the leading influencer marketing platform for games. Founded in Helsinki by games industry veterans Jiri Kupiainen and Leo Lännenmäki in 2014, the company also has offices in Berlin, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Learn more at matchmade.tv.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Microsoft
Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Learn more at www.microsoft.com.

About DDM
DDM delivers worldwide business expertise with a personal touch and a proven methodology. Learn more at www.ddmagency.com.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Plunder Pack wins NGDC in Linköping

NGDC — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 00:00:36 +0000

The seventh qualifier of the Nordic Game Discovery Contest Season IV took place in Linköping, Sweden on 27 November, as the NGDC debuted at the annual LiU Game Conference.

Supported by a lively audience, the three contestants delivered an intense pitch battle, with split decisions after each of the four rounds. But Swedish studio Friendly Fire did best with their game Plunder Pack – a stealth strategy game about a rag-tag group of animals on a mission to steal from the rich to give to the poor.

Check out the reveal trailer:

A big congratulations to Friendly Fire on their victory and a huge thank you to the organisers of LiU Game Conference for a great event. See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, Nordic Game Ventures, Karmafy, Microsoft, DDM and 80 Level.

About Xsolla
Xsolla ensures the best ideas get made, get seen and get played. Launch, monetize and scale with Xsolla tools and services. Learn more at xsolla.com.

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Microsoft
Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Learn more at www.microsoft.com.

About DDM
DDM delivers worldwide business expertise with a personal touch and a proven methodology. Learn more at www.ddmagency.com.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Ad Infinitum NGDC victor in Vilnius

NGDC — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 06:00:38 +0000

The sixth qualifier of the Nordic Game Discovery Contest Season IV took place in Lithuania on 17 November, as the NGDC returned to GameOn in Vilnius for a third year.

Lithuanian studio Tag of Joy was the local favorite to earn a seat in the NGDC Season IV Grand Finals, with their game Crowns and Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit up against entries from Germany and Finland.

Though the Vilnius-based developer did very well, in the end it was German Hekate that came out on top with Ad Infinitum, their first person horror game set during World War I.

Check out the game trailer:

A big congratulations to Hekate on their victory and a huge thank you to the organisers of GameOn for another great event. See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, Nordic Game Ventures, Karmafy, Microsoft, DDM and 80 Level.

About Xsolla
Xsolla ensures the best ideas get made, get seen and get played. Launch, monetize and scale with Xsolla tools and services. Learn more at xsolla.com.

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Microsoft
Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Learn more at www.microsoft.com.

About DDM
DDM delivers worldwide business expertise with a personal touch and a proven methodology. Learn more at www.ddmagency.com.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Marble Garden wins NGDC at GameRome

NGDC — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 07:00:45 +0000

The Nordic Game Discovery Contest returned to GameRome in Rome, Italy on 14 November for the fifth qualifier in the NGDC’s fourth season.

Hosted by Nordic Game’s Teddy Florea, the contest in the Italian capital was a very tight battle between the three competing teams, with several split decisions and only a few points separating the competitors after the final round.

In the end, Italian Omnisir came out on top with Marble Garden, an action fantasy game with a unique story about confronting illness and the extraordinary power of imagination.

Check out the game trailer:

Big congratulations to Omnisir for winning Season IV’s fifth NGDC qualifier and a huge thank you to the organisers of GameRome for their fantastic support and a great show.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Nordic Game Ventures, Matchmade, 80 Level, Karmafy and Plan of Attack.

About Xsolla
Xsolla ensures the best ideas get made, get seen and get played. Launch, monetize and scale with Xsolla tools and services. Learn more at xsolla.com.

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

FearLand victorious in Bucharest

NGDC — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 07:26:34 +0000

The Nordic Game Discovery Contest returned to Dev.Play in Bucharest, Romania last week with the fourth qualifier in the NGDC’s fourth season.

The contest in the Romanian capital turned out to be a very close battle between the titles Gridpunk and FearLand, with a split decision and only one point separating the two after the final round.

In the end, Team FearLand from Romania came out on top with FearLand, a real-time stealth tactics game.

Check out the cinematic trailer:

Big congratulations to Team FearLand for winning Season IV’s fourth NGDC qualifier and a huge thank you to the organisers of Dev.Play for their fantastic support and a great show.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Chronos wins NGDC in Lisbon

NGDC — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 06:35:36 +0000

The Nordic Game Discovery Contest returned to GameDev Camp in Lisbon, Portugal for a third time last week with the third qualifier in the NGDC’s fourth season.

Hosted by Nordic Game’s own Teddy Florea, this year’s contest at GameDev Camp was an especially hard-fought battle before a passionate and supportive audience. The judges had prepared some very tough questions, and the three competing studios went all out for victory.

In the end, Team Chronos from Portugal came out on top with their game Chronos, an atmoshpeheric 2D puzzler where players can slow down time and use it to solve a variety of puzzles.

Check out the game trailer:

Big congratulations to Team Chronos for winning Season IV’s third NGDC qualifier and a huge thank you to the organisers of GameDev Camp for their fantastic support and a great show.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Warshmallows wins NGDC qualifier in Malta

NGDC — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 08:12:36 +0000

This past weekend Malta hosted the second Nordic Game Discovery Contest Season IV qualifier at Playcon, a new game-focused event at the annual tech industry DELTA Summit.

NGDC qualifier judges in Malta included Conrad Vassalo (MCAST director), Dave Hawkins (Exient CEO) and Dave Mariner (Karmafy), all contributing great questions and advice for the three contestants.

After a well-fought live pitch battle, Maltese studio Yourun won with Warshmallows, their 2D arena shooter for the Nintendo Switch.

Check out the gameplay video:

Big congratulations to Yourun for winning Season IV’s second NGDC qualifier and a huge thank you to the organisers of Playcon for their fantastic support and a great show.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

About Karmafy
Karmafy rewards and empowers your players with free charitable giving directed to charities and initiatives they feel passionate about. Learn more at karmafy.com.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

Pink Array wins NGDC kick-off in Brazil

NGDC — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 01:00:32 +0000

The Nordic Game Discovery Contest got an early start on its fourth season with a fantastic debut in São Paulo at last month’s BIG Festival.

A very enthusiastic audience in Brazil cheered for their local heroes on the festival’s main stage, with the “football match” vibe putting extra pressure members of the NGDC jury, including Flávia Gazi (IGN), Jason della Rocca (Execution Labs), Justin Berenbaum (Xsolla) and Shirley Lin (DOGIgames) to get their questions right.

After a nail-biting final tabulation of the live pitch results, it was Brazilian studio Pink Array that came out in top with their game Grashers, a colorful twin-stick shooter roguelike set in outer space.

Check out the game trailer:

BIG congratulations to Pink Array for winning Season IV’s first NGDC qualifier and a huge thank you to the organisers of the BIG Festival for their fantastic support and a great show.

See you at NG20 next May for the NGDC Season IV finalist expo and grand finals!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Nordic Game Ventures, Matchmade, 80 Level and Plan of Attack.

About Xsolla
Xsolla ensures the best ideas get made, get seen and get played. Launch, monetize and scale with Xsolla tools and services. Learn more at xsolla.com.

About Versus Evil
Versus Evil is a video game publisher whose sole focus is to publish indie games. Learn more at versusevil.com/.

About 80 Level
80 Level is the best source of valuable information about the gaming industry and its recent trends. Learn more at 80.lv.

About Nordic Game Ventures
Nordic Game Ventures grows great companies and secures future jobs for the Nordic games industry. Learn more at nordicgameventures.com.

Interested in becoming an NGDC partner or sponsor? Contact Nordic Game BD director Teddy Florea here to learn about great opportunities still available for NGDC Season IV.

NGDC Seasons I-III in brief

NGDC — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 02:00:47 +0000

In 2016, building on fourteen years of running major successful events in the games industry, including several live-pitching events, selection processes and support systems, Nordic Game created the Nordic Game Discovery Contest (NGDC) – an exciting, competitive challenge, where selected game projects are showcased at live-pitch events in several countries.

Nordic Game Discovery Contest – Season I (2016-2017):

6-7 Oct: Northern Game Summit – Kajaani, Finland
19 Oct: Konsoll 2016 – Bergen, Norway
21 Oct: Sweden Game Conference – Skövde, Sweden
20-22 Apr: Reboot Develop – Dubrovnik, Croatia
21 Apr: Nordic Game Jam – Copenhagen, Denmark
24-26 Apr: Quo Vadis – Berlin, Germany
8 May: NGDC Season I wild cards announced
17-19 May: NGDC Season I Finals/NG17 – Malmö, Sweden

NGDC Season I was sponsored by Nordisk Film Games, GamesIndustry.biz and Nordic Game Ventures.

Nordic Game Discovery Contest – Season II (2017-2018):

11-12 Sep: DevPlay – Bucharest, Romania
16-17 Sep: GameOn – Vilnius, Lithuania
29-30 Sep: Slovenian Games Conference – Ljubljana, Slovenia
5-6 Oct: Northern Game Summit – Kajaani, Finland
18-20 Oct: Sweden Game Conference – Skövde, Sweden
27-29 Oct: Athens Games Festival – Athens, Greece
24 Nov: Game Dev Camp – Lisbon, Portugal
29-30 Nov: AzPlay – Bilbao, Spain
13 Jan: NM in Gameplay – Oslo, Norway
23 Jan: Ludicious Game Festival – Zurich, Switzerland
25 Jan: Gamesforum – London, UK
16 Apr: Nordic Game Jam – Copenhagen, Denmark
19-21 Apr: Reboot Develop – Dubrovnik, Croatia
8 May: NGDC Season II wild cards announced
23-25 May: NGDC Season II Finals/NG18 – Malmö, Sweden

NGDC Season II was sponsored by Nordisk Film Games, Appodeal, Nordic Game Ventures and Steam.

Nordic Game Discovery Contest – Season III (2018-2019):

30-31 Aug: Game Dev Days – Graz, Austria
28-29 Sep: Game Dev Camp – Lisbon, Portugal
4-5 Oct: DevPlay – Bucharest, Romania
4-5 Oct: Northern Game Summit – Kajaani, Finland
11-14 Oct: GIC – Poznan, Poland
17-19 Oct: Sweden Game Conference – Skövde, Sweden
20-21 Oct: Athens Games Festival – Athens, Greece
2-3 Nov: GameOn – Vilnius, Lithuania
20-21 Nov: Gamerome – Rome, Italy
28-29 Nov: Make Games Africa – Cape Town, South Africa
7-10 Dec: F&S Play – Bilbao, Spain
5 Jan: NM in Gameplay – Oslo, Norway
31 Jan-2 Feb: Ludicious Game Festival – Zurich, Switzerland
11-13 Apr: Reboot Develop Blue – Dubrovnik, Croatia
25-28 Apr: Nordic Game Jam – Copenhagen, Denmark
9 May: NGDC Season III wild cards announced
22-24 May: NGDC Season III Finals/NG19 – Malmö, Sweden

NGDC Season III was sponsored by Xsolla, Dolby, Valve, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, 80 Level and Nordic Game Ventures.

Our warmest congratulations to the NGDC Season I-III qualifier winners and grand champions. It will be very exciting to follow all of these talented developers in the future.

Also a very big thank you to our NGDC Season I-III sponsors – Nordisk Film Games, GamesIndustry.biz and Nordic Game Ventures (Season I), Nordisk Film Games, Appodeal, Nordic Game Ventures and Steam (Season II) and Xsolla, Dolby, Valve, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, 80 Level and Nordic Game Ventures (Season III) – as well as our partners across Europe, Africa and South America.

The NGDC’s fourth season features a new (and exotic!) contest locales, enhanced live pitch format and audience/jury interaction, new expo and mentorship opportunities at NG20, and much more. Follow all the action right here on discovery-contest.nordicgame.com.

Bring on NGDC Season IV!