Friday 2 May 2025
Screen NSW have opened the Gamescom 2025 Market Travel Program to support experienced NSW digital games developers heading to Gamescom 2025, the world’s largest event for the games industry and a key trade conference held annually in Germany.
As one of the leading trade events for the games industry, practitioners supported through Screen NSW’s Gamescom 2025 Market Travel Program will have the opportunity to find out more about global gaming trends and industry innovations, make connections with practitioners and decision makers from around the world. They will also bring their insights and experiences back to Australia to shape and strengthen the future of NSW’s gaming industry.
Up to five experienced practitioners will be supported through the program, with up to $5,000 per applicant available to support costs associated with travel, accommodation and registration for Gamescom 2025. Applicants must have a commercial game or games to market at the event.
Gamescom is an annual one-of-a-kind event held in Cologne, Germany and showcases the latest in gaming, hosts hands on exhibitions and provides attendees with exclusive insights into the games industry. In 2024, Gamescom welcomed 1,462 exhibiting companies from 64 countries and hosted 335,000 attendees from 120 countries, a testament to the huge appetite for gaming content from audiences all over the world.
This is the second round of the Gamescom Market Travel Program, which first launched in 2024, and is one of several travel programs Screen NSW now offers to support NSW games practitioners travelling to local and international gaming events to gain valuable hands-on experience and make new connections, including GCAP 2024 Travel Support Program and GDC 2025 Market Travel Program. The programs complement the growing support offered for NSW developers including the Digital Games Seed Development Fund and the Digital Games Rebate, which recently had its expenditure threshold lowers to $350,000.
Applications will close Thursday 22 May 2025 at 2pm AEST.
For more information and to apply, visit the Screen NSW website here.
Head of Screen NSW Kyas Hepworth said:
“We heard from last year’s recipients how invaluable the opportunity was to travel to Germany for Gamescom 2024, and I’m thrilled that Screen NSW can open another round of travel support for Gamescom 2025.
“With Screen NSW levelling up its support for the local games industry, including making the Digital Games Rebate more accessible through the lowering of the expenditure threshold, it’s vital we also support practitioners to travel overseas for events like Gamescom 2025. This will ensure our NSW developers can showcase the high calibre of work we produce here and ensures they stay on the cutting edge of global gaming trends and gain exclusive insights that they can bring back to help grow our local industry.”
Previously supported recipients from the Gamescom 2024 Market Travel Program included practitioners from NSW studios including Blowfish Studios, Chaos Theory Games, Epiphany Games, Lamington Games and Lemonade Games. The recipients spoke with Screen NSW about their key insights and highlights from Gamescom 2024 here.