WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?
We choose participants who are engaged in one of these areas of creative creation:
- Game design;
- Illustration, 2D art and animation;
- Modeling, 3D art and animation;
- Sound design and composing.
It is important that you live in Serbia and that you are between 19 and 30 years of age. To participate, absolutely no prior knowledge of gaming is required – just a great desire to learn and improve in areas that already interest you.
We especially encourage girls to apply for the program.
Watch the aftermovie of the first or second cycle and see how participants worked, socialized and created. This year, that could be you! Team meetings, lots of workshops and creative challenges await you.
WHAT YOU CAN LEARN
During the five months of the program, you go through lectures and workshops on carefully selected topics, such as:
- Game design (level, narrative, UX design…)
- Game art (illustration, 3D environment art, 2D animation and 3D animation, UI art, VFX…);
- Music and sound in video games;
- Production and project management;
- Business aspects of gaming, a.k.a. biz dev;
- How the gaming ecosystem works;
- The process of working on a game.
In addition to all that, you will also be working on developing your “soft” skills, such as team culture and presentation skills.
Lecturers and mentors are leading experts from the local gaming industry who already have experience in imparting knowledge and working with young talent. We will combine live and online meetings to be creative and efficient.
All you and your team need to do is come up with an idea, and with the help of mentors and the SGA team, develop your game concepts. This will happen with well-designed lectures, workshops and lots and lots of practical work in an inspiring environment.
WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM YOU?
During these five months, we expect you to make time for:
- One online interview to enter the program;
- Live gathering every other week in the center of Belgrade after 5 PM;
- Online sessions with mentors;
- Working with a team – ideally two hours a week.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
WHAT IS THE FINAL PRODUCT?
At the end of the program, each team will have a seven-minute presentation of the game concept and developed characters, a framework for the narrative, main mechanics and game loop, musical background, art direction and a perfected public pitch.
IMPORTANT: The result of the project is not a finished game. The program focuses on working on the creative part of the idea, without programming.
WHAT IS PROVIDED?
- All live workshops take place in the premises of ARC in Ložionica (Belgrade), where we have a large hall for work and lectures, and a terrace for socializing.
- You will meet some of the leading local experts in the domain of gaming and related disciplines.
- We’ll go to visit big gaming companies.
- You will have free access to all SGA programs that will be implemented by the end of the program.
In addition, you have a unique opportunity to:
- Present a game concept to a jury of professionals together with your team;
- Get support for further project development after the program ends;
- Become a member of the SGA;
- Prepare for possible professional engagements in the gaming industry.
Apartfrom all of this, the participants of the previous cycles of Playing Narratives say that one of the most valuable things they took with them were the acquaintances with their peers and the teams they formed.
THIS YEAR’S TOPIC: REALITY CHECK
Explore the border between reality and illusion in the digital age!
At a time when fake news spreads faster than truth and artificial intelligence increasingly imitates human creativity, we want to see ideas for games that encourage critical thinking, recognizing misinformation and distinguishing between authentic and generated content.
Whether it’s exposing AI-generated characters, distinguishing real events from fictional ones, or confronting the ethical dilemmas of modern information society, the goal is to turn games into tools for raising awareness and asking questions:
What is real, and what just seems so?
This program wouldn’t be possible without the support of dedicated industry partners, the company 3Lateral as part of Epic Games and Nordeus, as well as ARC. The program was founded by SGA, the Goethe-Institut and the French Institute in Serbia.
PROJECT POWERED BY:
PROGRAM FOUNDERS:
