GameDev Estonia is a non-profit organization and fully operates based on support from the game development community, a small list of local game development companies, indie game developers, individuals, and members of our small but very passionate community.
Despite very limited funding and running mostly based on the enthusiasm of our small team and support from the community, in 2023 we managed to arrange six meetups, two game jams (hackathons), organize the Estonian Games Expo, and participate in several international events to promote Estonian game development. We are thrilled to have a friendly and welcoming community, and we also collaborate with many educational institutions to raise the next wave of video game developers in our country.
Estonia is very well known for our IT startups (we have the world’s largest number of unicorn IT startups per capita), so our ultimate goal is to replicate (and overcome) this success in the game development industry.
Your support is extremely important for us! We won’t be able to operate without the community’s and sponsors’ support. Any assistance, small or large, helps us achieve our goals while also helping our community grow and evolve!
Our Accomplishments
- In 2024, we became members of the European Games Developer Federation (EGDF).
- We are acknowledged by Enterprise Estonia and the Ministry of Culture.
- We have signed cooperation agreement with Latvian and Lithuanian developers associations.
- We managed to organise with Enterprise Estonia trade missions to GDC, PAX, DevGamm and Gamescom.
- We brought to Estonia The Game Development World Championship award show.
- We organise constant flow of GameJams in different cities across the country. (Tallinn, Pärnu, Jõhvi, average of 60 participants)
- For the last two years we organise monthly GameDev meet-ups. (more than 20 organised, 1000+ people attended)
- 32 studios are members, all of the other studios participate in our activities.
Our events were well-attended by members of the game development community (the average attendance at meetings is 60-80 people), and they assisted numerous studios in developing deeper relationships and cooperation. We also administer and keep active the main GameDev Discord channel (1300 members) in Estonia, as well as numerous other social media channels.
What we bring to our members
- Our social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram) and personalized press releases are available at no cost to Estonian projects.
- We provide help with visiting international events and getting discounts for most of the international conferences across Europe (Pocket Gamer, White Nigths, DevGamm, Mobidictum, etc.).
- Participation in local Estonian events such as MängudeÖÖ, JZone, Startup Day, Pixo Fest, Robotex, and others to showcase Estonian games.
- Help from the local community of other developers, including possible monetary help.
- Free printed materials and banners. Representation on our Estonian GameDev leaflets and rollups.
- Organisation of practice courses for University Students.
- Organisation of annual Global GameJam in Estonia.
- Unified space for all of the latest news about Job openings and seminars.
- Study visits to local studios.
- Help with University events organisation.
- Pool of qualified mentors.
- Free monthly Meetups and Seminars with diverse guests.
- Video archive of previous seminars.
- Regular news about latest job openings.
- Affordable coworking space in Tallinn.
- Unified information about all of the studios in the country.
- Contacts of the Studios representatives.
- Information about all of the latest local projects in development.
GameDev HUB
We launched GameDev HUB at the start of 2024 as a new initiative. It’s an affordable coworking space where small game development companies or game development enthusiasts can get together, work in a welcoming atmosphere with other professionals in the field, collaborate on projects, or just work in a nice and relaxed atmosphere. With the support of our sponsors and members of the community, we were able to rent an entire floor (more than 585 square meters) at Kadaka 63, which we then completely transformed into a warm and welcoming space where we can host community activities and lectures. We have over 40 fully equipped work spaces in the HUB, a nice kitchen, and great meeting areas. Our aim is to make GameDev HUB to be a TRUE HEART AND HOME for Game Development in Estonia.
Where your support will go to?
Here is the main areas where your support of GameDev Estonia goes to and bring most of the value to Estonian Game Development:
- Rent for the GameDev HUB is currently one of the most significant part of our budget. When we first launched the HUB earlier this year, we had two large sponsors on board who we expected to fully support this effort. However, due to financial constraints, they had to temporarily discontinue their support. Currently, HUB members cover just about 40% of the HUB's expenses, therefore we need constant support to cover the rest of expenses.
- While we managing to organize various events during the year - we want to do way more - do more meetups, bring more experts from around the world to educate our community, help estonian Game Developers to showcase their games and services on more game development conferences. All this need extra budget.
- We planning to start various educational programs in GameDev HUB training class to improve overall level of expertise of current Estonian game development companies as well as to teach students and all who are interested to get in to Game Development industry. We planning to teach - 3D Art for Games, Animation, Game Design, Concept Art and many other things.
- Currently we don’t have any full-time employees, and all what we do is based on the enthusiasm of our team, thought since they have also a “day job” to do - their time for GameDev Estonia is quite limited . With full-time employees we would be able to increase the amount of events we do through the year, be able to advertise our activities properly and have a stable growth plan.
We are fully transparent on all our expenses and spendings, so if you need any additional information – please feel free to reach out!
Our Members
Ways to Support Us!
We would appreciate any help. Small or big, whatever is comfortable for you – any amount will help us to continue our growth and support our community. While we greatly appreciate any help – we are most happy with “recurrent payments” sign-ups. This helps us to better plan our finances and activities for the future.
Support us on Patreon
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Advertisement of your project on our social channels
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Access to private Discord chats and extra information
Donate through PayPal / by Card
Direct Donation to our Bank
GAMEDEV ESTONIA MTÜ
EE262200221078065571
Description: Donation
Become our Corporate sponsor
If your company have possibility to support Game Dev Estonia – we have various sponsorship packages and would be happy to discuss it with you! So please reach out: