Cluster
The Brno cluster boasts a long-standing history in the video game industry
Brno is a city in Czechia with 380.000 inhabitants. Most of the heavy industry disappeared from the city in 90’ and was replaced by light industry and IT professions. That was likely thanks to strong higher education. Brno has 33 faculties in 13 institutes of higher education and about 89,000 students.
History of the game industry in the region goes back to the 1990s when the first studios had been established.
One the first were Illusion Softworks and Pterodon. These studios were the first from the Czech Republic who succeeded with their games on the global market (Hidden & Dangerous, Mafia, Vietcong). This success accelerated the game industry in the whole country and soon new studios appeared. Brno has around 800 game developers within 40 companies these days. The biggest studios are currently 2K Czech / Hangar 13, Bohemia Interactive, Madfinger Games, Ingame Studios. There was always a community of developers but not very well organised. That changed at around 2015 when Z. Zahora (educator, narrative designer) and J. Bedecs (conference organiser and Fineway studio founder) started organising regular meetups on a monthly basis. This is all supported by other bigger events like Game Access conference and Gamer Pie festival. As a result of these meetups, a group of enthusiasts started to chat about possible improvements in the regional game industry.
These were again driven by Zahora and Bedecs. After some time this group started to communicate with local authorities as game industry representatives and got recognized by JIC (South Moravian Innovation Center). It is an organisation established by South Moravian Region and City Brno as an agency for support of small businesses and startups. They recommended the game industry representatives to establish a formal unit (cluster) to have a better position when negotiating with local authorities.
In March 2020 “Game Cluster” was officially formed as a non-profit association of people active in the game industry in Brno and its surroundings. The cluster brings together the activities of various entities – from individuals to associations, development companies to schools and universities. It supports all activities related to both digital and board games. Most of its activities are focused on game industry promotion, games education and game industry growth in the region. Game Cluster has currently 34 active members and 16 honorary members. These 34 active members are physical persons who are all voluntarily active in cluster projects. Companies, universities, and other organisations are honorary members. Within the cluster operate several groups (propagation, education, game jams, game incubator). Also the collaboration with South Moravian Innovation Centre continues.
These projects were done or are being worked on: Kompas – student games exhibition; Game incubator – testing phase now (3 teams); Brno Game Jam – regular event for students and professionals; Lektvar festival – showcase of student games and awards. An important part of the cluster is also networking: Visits at schools in Brno region, talks to students and also to teachers; Communication with local authorities, seeking for possible collaboration and fundings; Providing prizes to student’s competitions; Internships at local companies for students; Training for teachers provided by professionals (local studios); Hardware for schools.