SGA Caravan in the Balkans – we build gaming communities

The first stop on our gaming tour was Sarajevo, where we gathered to talk about game art! Our friends from Mad Head Games, Playstudios Europe and Wargaming Belgrade completely blew everyone away with stories about tech art, animation in video games and concept art. We had an unforgettable time, soaking up inspiring tips and tricks (and the occasional ćevap or baklava).

Damir Maglajlić, Executive Director of Bit Alliance, said that it was his pleasure to support the Game Art Meetup, which brought together experts in the field of art and animation in video games. These are his words: “Events like this are important because they give young people the opportunity to learn from the best, make contacts and gain insight into a rapidly developing industry. We look forward to future cooperation and the opportunity to expand Playing Narratives to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we believe that this will open up opportunities for young talents and contribute to the development of creative industries in our country.”

After Sarajevo, we headed to Tirana, where, in the middle of a hot June day, we discovered that the gaming scene in Albania has a lot to show. The Outerlynx crew and our Albanian Gaming Community hosts inspired us with stories about their experiences in indie game development. Of course, we shocked the audience with serious topics about climate change through the exhibition of the Center for the Promotion of Science and learned how this issue can become part of video games.

Lorena Gjana, the Founder of the Albanian Gaming Community said that the meetup was a true milestone for the Balkan gaming community. She thiks that “it was inspiring to see how much potential we have when we unite to push the boundaries of our industry. This gathering reinforced our shared vision for growing the Balkan gaming scene and creating more opportunities for young developers to thrive.”

The next stop was Novi Pazar. Ramiz Trtovac enthusiastically guided everyone present through the world of video games and explained how to enter the gaming industry, no matter whether you are a beginner or an experienced veteran. What delighted us was the number of young people who came to hear more about our industry, as well as the number of those who work every day to improve the skills necessary to become part of the IT community. Our hosts, NIT Center, beautifully organized the event, so this is not the last time we will be in Novi Pazar this year.

Ramiz Trtovac, Head of User Acquisition at Game Biz Consulting, says that he saw great potential in young people from this city, who are only now discovering the exciting possibilities of the gaming industry, and adds the following: “I believe that, with more frequent similar gatherings, Novi Pazar can become fertile ground for the development of several successful gaming studios, given that it is the youngest city in Europe in terms of the number of young residents.”

And finally, we ended our summer adventure on the seashore, in beautiful Perast. In August, we talked about climate challenges and how young creatives can enter the world of video game development, all within the most famous summer cultural festival, Kotor Art. Perhaps even more important was the fact that we had the opportunity to gather all the regional partners and talk about the future of regionalization of the Playing Narratives and Shift2Games programs. Our desire and mission is to transfer examples of good practice to the region and, if we can, further promote the development of the gaming industry.

Miloš Šćepović, the Founder of Montegames, told us the following at the gathering: “We are delighted that Montenegro has become a gathering place for our friends from regional game dev communities. We believe that our country will become a real magnet for creative people, providing them with endless inspiration for future projects!”

But that’s not the end – on October 31st, we’ll be visiting Novi Pazar again, where a Career Day will be held, and in November we’ll have another exciting visit to Skopje, where we’ll share knowledge, experience and, of course, a lot of passion, all related to games!

See you at the next stop!