A games incubator to strengthen the burgeoning games sector and a creative skills programme to develop the talent pool provide added horsepower to Engine Shed.
Game Boosters is a new, innovative, incubator setting up in Bristol, assisted by Engine Shed, and is now seeking talented videogame developers looking for help them achieve success with their game development. Game Boosters breaks the traditional incubation business model and aims to become a leader in publishing, mentorship and incubation in Europe.
Boomsatsuma, currently based in one of the meanwhile Boxworks units, is taking on 1000 Sq ft from September to run the first year of their post-16 “agency” programme. This is a new immersive course for young people offering entry level pathways into creative and high tech industries. Students will be working towards an extended diploma whilst working in a creative agency serving the needs of stakeholders and industry partners. This in association with the Learning City and Temple Quarter engagement hub for Bristol.
Engine Shed‘s mission is to stimulate long term economic growth – which it does by supporting activities that help overcome barriers or create new activity. Two identified areas, to help ensure sustainable growth over the next 10-15 years, are stimulating or nurturing new or emerging innovation clusters (such as games development) and helping to ensure a diverse workforce is skilled and motivated to fill the jobs requirement of those clusters.
Nick Sturge, Director of Engine Shed, commented:
“This is an exciting new development for us. Having previously hosted, and successfully helped, WebStart Bristol – the privately run internet accelerator – to become established, hosting another early-stage accelerator, this time in the games sector, gives us the opportunity to help this new initiative get a foothold in the city.
To then also be able to host an innovative skills programme for young people, who can then fuel the growth of the games companies that Game Booster will create, completely fits with our mission.”
Fernando Ortega, CEO & Founder of Game Boosters, added:
“Engine Shed bring us an enormous opportunity to start our business in the UK. We know there´s a lot of talented developers that need help with the marketing, PR and publishing for their games and we want to help them with our incubation services and also give them better knowledge of different areas related with videogame development through our workshops and mentorship programs. Engine Shed provide their business knowledge and awesome facilities, for us and for developers, to succeed.”
Mark Curtis, Creative Director and co-founder of Boomsatsuma, concluded:
“Working with Engine Shed has given us the perfect opportunity to meet the aspirations of young people by placing them at the heart of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone, growing as the area develops. Providing real opportunity and commercial immersion to inform their subsequent career choices.”
Game Boosters will be resident in Engine Shed from April and BoomSatsuma’s agency programme will be resident from September 2016.
