The video game market continues to grow, generating a turnover of 2.1 billion euros in 2020. According to the Iidea ‘Videogames in Italy in 2020’ report, the growth recorded last year was “significant” and equal to 21.9% compared to 2019. And it is in this context that the first Italian 4.0 acceleration program dedicated to European startups is born in the gaming sector. Ogr Torino, 34BigThings and Microsoft have indeed launched Quickload powered by Ogr Torino a project for which the giant created by Bill Gates has decided to allocate $ 100,000.
The three players, together with Id @ Xbox – the program dedicated to developers independent – and Microsoft for Startups, thus join forces to promote innovation and support new talents in the implementation of projects related to the world of video games. And among the investor partners of the project there are also Digital Magics, dpixel and Sellalab. “We are very proud to announce the acceleration program Quickload powered by Ogr Torino. Gaming – underlines the CEO Massimo Lapucci – is a sector on which Ogr Torino – through the Ogr Tech business community – has bet from the beginning “.
“With this experience we expect to consolidate our presence at European level in areas characterized by high development rates, thus consolidating OGR’s mission as a hub for acceleration and business innovation at the service of the country “explains Lapucci. The manager also points out that” the path, which joins the other seven innovation programs already active at Ogr Tech, further strengthens the partnership with Microsoft and 34BigThings from Turin, with the aim of enhancing and attracting talents to the city, cultivating its entrepreneurial culture and creating collaborations with other major players on a global level “.
The call for the program is open to startups and development ideas throughout Europe, both in the entertainment and serious gaming sectors, and the selected candidates will be supported with a mentorship path and will have the tools and resources necessary for the development of their business or related creative ideas. The applications have just been opened and the ‘collection’ will go on until September 20 through the official website of Quickload powered by Ogr Torino. To choose the best innovative ideas will be an international commission, composed of experts nominated by OgrTorino, 34BigThings and Microsoft, which will select the startups that will take part in the program but will have to wait until November to officially know who has been selected to participate.
To concretely support the most creative ideas and the most valid projects in the entertainment sector, Microsoft will provide a $ 100,000 grant through the international ID @ Xbox program. The initiative, starting on 6 December 2021, will last 6 months and will end on 27 May 2022. “One of Quickload’s goals is to help new talents develop their gaming business idea, whether it be a video game, a demo or the pillar of a new entrepreneurial culture “underlines Valerio Di Donato, CEO of 34BigThings.” It will be essential in the selection process not only to demonstrate that you have a valid idea with good potential but also -add- the professional and personal characteristics suitable to face a challenging growth path, but full of great satisfactions “.
Guy Richards, Senior Strategic Partner Manager of ID @ Xbox at EMEA, explains that “Since the launch of the program to date, the ID @ Xbox team has worked closely with the developers, launching over 2,000 titles. At the moment they are
more than 3,000 studies
developers who use ID @ Xbox for the creation of their works e many of these games and developers have made significant innovations to support the future of our sector “.” Our commitment – he clarifies – is to enable independent developers to design innovative video games “.
