Supercluster – Game Changer: The First Year of Development of the Serbian Creative Tech Ecosystem

The initiative for the creation of such a pilot program comes from ICT Hub, which, through the project “Serbia Innovates,” conducted extensive research on the Serbian economy, particularly focusing on sectors with significant innovation potential. In addition to the gaming and VR fields, pilot project competitions were announced for fields such as agrotechnology, medical innovation, and web3 and blockchain.

Over the past decade, the Serbian gaming industry has experienced exponential growth. Supported by a skilled and motivated workforce, various support systems within a vibrant startup ecosystem, Serbia has become a regional hub for game development, software engineering, and new technologies. The supportive ecosystem and specific government initiatives have played a crucial role in fostering domestic startups. Numerous local studios and independent development teams have made their mark, won awards, and attracted the attention of global gaming companies, reaching tens or even hundreds of millions of players worldwide. Unlike the majority of the domestic startup landscape, over 60% of gaming companies rely on their own original products, as evidenced by the annual report on the domestic gaming industry published by the Serbian Games Association (SGA).

But is everything really as great as it seems? With growth come the first “problems.” Lack of workforce, lack of funding and support systems for the development and promotion of smaller gaming teams, misunderstanding and unpreparedness of donors and investors for financial support of gaming, gaming accelerators not tailored to the needs of gaming companies, lack of educational profiles and courses that would create new, retrain, and upskill existing talent. The state system, like everywhere in the world, is not agile enough to keep pace with changes in the ecosystem, especially when it comes to such a rapidly growing, agile, and innovative industry that is globally interconnected.

And now, the sentence you’ve all been waiting for – You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation? All these problems were more than evident, so the Serbian Games Association (SGA) took on the role of finding appropriate solutions for them. It was only a matter of prioritization and choosing the right battle at the right moment. The pilot program for the supercluster emerged as a framework for numerous “next steps.” Since the SGA already plays the role of a cluster for our industry, verified through the European Cluster Collaboration platform, this upgrade came naturally, and we were ready to become super (Huh, I’m gonna leave now… :).

The potential for combining new technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) opens up new opportunities for exploration and provides exciting prospects for Serbian development teams to showcase their skills at a global level. It is natural for film post-production and the VFX domain to be another pillar of the supercluster. With the help of educational institutions, support organizations, startup teams, and mature companies, we jointly created a one-year pilot program for the Creative Tech Serbia supercluster in June 2022.

In the first year, we managed to achieve a lot, but as the boring project manager, allow me to put it like this:

Impressive results have been achieved in supporting the development of the gaming industry in Serbia, involving more than 4,000 participants in various activities. Three successful trade missions were held with 20 teams and participants, while funding was secured for five piloted activities for the next period, including the “For the Win” conference, the Business Mentoring Pilot Cycle, “Unreal Day,” “Gamification Academy,” and “Soft Skills Academy.” In total, there were over 20 different activities with over 80 sessions, including four gaming tracks at conferences – CGA, PANDORA, SVI, and SPLET, as well as the first-ever indie game exhibition. Participants had the opportunity to connect with over 100 exhibitors and speakers. Through support programs, 20 teams/institutions received support, and two educational institutions received equipment for new gaming-related educational programs. Additionally, through collaboration between educational institutions and the industry, one product was developed, and a unique page listing all games produced in Serbia (sga.rs/games) was created. Furthermore, the Shift 2 Games concept was realized, which included a web platform, a TV show, and a job fair for the creative industries. Over 20 new partnerships have been established to further support the development of the Creative Tech sector in Serbia, and a plan has been created for the first gaming accelerator in the region. Additionally, a proposal for changing the law for the import of dual-use goods (dev kits) was created, and the first national booth at the Gamescom 2023 conference was designed and organized.

And all of this was achieved in just the pilot year, which lasted 12 months, including preparation, planning, and implementation. I think there hasn’t been a better pilot, not even Tom Cruise, at least in the original version of the movie – what do you think?

The best thing about all of this is the fact that these activities came directly from the members of the supercluster, as real and genuine needs of the ecosystem that we endeavored to address in the best possible way. What is true is that these activities would not have been realized without the support of all supercluster members, as well as without the dedicated work of the Serbia Innovates team, who were there with us every step of the way, and the support of USAID, which recognized the need for this type of support.

The results of the first year of work of the Creative Tech Serbia supercluster are proof of the commitment of ecosystem actors to the process of stimulating innovation, supporting entrepreneurship, and creating an environment in which talents can thrive. With a growing ecosystem, passionate development teams, and the support of the Creative Tech Serbia supercluster, Serbia will quickly become the regional number one in the gaming and creative-tech industries, with the ultimate goal of reaching the list of top 10 industries in Europe.

It’s always nice to spice up a text like this with an anecdote, and there were quite a few, but most of them can be described in one word – escalation. We always aimed to give our maximum in every activity and ensure that end-users always get more. Is it pleasant when an event for 100 people becomes an event for 600 or when out of 100 registered, 120 show up? It’s not pleasant, but damn it feels good. And that, to me, is perhaps the strongest impression. The fact that in everything we did, there was a good feeling of cohesion and mutual support, regardless of how challenging the task was.

This ecosystem, made up of impressive, creative, and wonderful people, can only be described as a spaceship destined for cosmic achievements, and it is truly an honor for us to be the accelerator in the rocket fuel that will help it reach its destination even faster and easier.

So, all of you who want to be part of this crazy journey, contact us, we are just a call away.