Guillaume Bouckaert, the founder of Games.Brussels, spoke to a local radio station about the importance of the coworking for the video game industry and for the region. According to Guillaume Bouckaert, playing games is a passion, but creating them is a profession.
The launch of Games.Brussels Space aims to bring together the community of developers in Brussels, providing a platform to share knowledge, collaborate, and support each other.
The coworking space, located in the Centre Dansaert, and provide a safe heaven for small teams to work together, share expertise, and resources.
Games.Brussels wants to support developers to achieve their full potential by creating a network that promotes collaboration and community over competition.
The industry has a significant economic impact globally, with a turnover of 180 billion dollars. In Belgium, the industry is structured around small businesses that employ between three to five people working on a project that will be primarily sold internationally, usually online. The majority of games are purchased by Americans or Japanese, which places pressure on small teams, requiring a vast range of skills to deliver a game.
The initiative has the backing of the City of Brussels, supported by Fabien Maingain, Echevin. While the industry in Brussels has significant economic importance, the region still lags behind the Flanders region. According to Guillaume Bouckaert, Flanders has supported the sector for a more extended period than the Brussels or Wallonia region. The Flemish Audiovisual Fund (VAF) opened in 2015-2016, allowing game developers to receive support. As of today, there are about one hundred game development companies in Belgium and 20 are in Brussels.
