The NYU Game Center has been selected by Empire State Development to receive $450,000 over three years to establish a Digital Gaming Hub in New York City. Along with fellow awardees Rochester Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, we look forward to realizing the State’s Digital Gaming Hub vision: A program that increases collaboration between industry, academy, and individuals, provides resources and mentorship to those entering the industry, assists established companies and developers, fosters the games community, grows the size of the New York State games industry, and raises the profile of games made in the State.
“NYU is pleased to have been selected as one of the State’s Digital Gaming Hubs. The NYU Game Center will house the Hub in Brooklyn, where it has already been established as a focal point of New York’s rapidly growing game industry. A core part of our mission has always been to support local game developers, through a longstanding program of professional, public, and community events. We look forward to expanding our game incubator, creating more public programming, and energizing the games industry in New York City by connecting talented developers and industry partners through the Hub.”
– Frank Lantz, Department Chair
The Game Center will continue to offer free and public events as a cornerstone of our Hub, events like the Lecture Series, No Quarter, and the 2016 Global Game Jam, a 48-hour game design event starting Friday January 26th. We will also develop new initiatives, including expanding the NYU Game Center Incubator to include developers outside of NYU.
Growing the New York State games industry and community is at core of this opportunity, so we’ll be reaching out to the community and industry in the coming months to hear from local game makers about what they’d like to see the Hub develop. If you would like to be a part of those discussions, please get in touch at gamecenter@nyu.edu
The Game Center is appreciative of Senator Martin J Golden, Empire State Development, the many individuals and organizations whose letters of support were indispensable, and to those who have built the New York City games community with us over the years. We look forward to working with you at the Game Center soon!
More information about the Digital Gaming Hubs is available on the Empire State Development site.