Building the Italian games industry


Chris Wallace catches up with Mauro Fanelli to find out more about the new game accelerator programme at the Cinecittà Game Hub, and what it means for the future of the Italian games industry.


L


ast month IIDEA – the trade association for video games in Italy – announced their latest plans to put the Italian games industry on the map.


During a press conference in Rome, IIDEA announced that they


were launching a video game accelerator programme at the Cinecittà Game Hub. The primary goal of this programme is to offer up to 10 startups €60,000 in pre-seed funding (with funds provided by the Lazio Regional Government and the Ministry of Culture) and – perhaps more importantly – hands-on mentoring from industry experts. The 10 qualifying startups will develop an advanced prototype,


which will then be pitched to publishers, gaming platforms and investors – gaining them access to the international market. The ultimate aim of the accelerator is to prepare startups with the


skills required to achieve success in the international market, and, they hope, finally bring attention (and much needed support) to the Italian games industry. The accelerator began this month, and will continue for the next 12


weeks. We spoke with Mauro Fanelli – co-founder, creative director & CEO of the independent development studio MixedBag and former vice president of IIDEA – about the accelerator, and what he hopes it


24 | MCV/DEVELOP January 2022


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