“I’ve been around for over 20 years in different roles,”
notes Fanelli. “Because when I started, I was actually a journalist. So I have a bit of a double perspective about what the industry was back then. “Two decades ago, there was not really an industry in
Italy. Ubisoft Milan was around making Gameboy games, and later Wii and WiiU games, but it wasn’t much of an industry back then. Right now, I’m seeing that we are building an industry, which has been really accelerating in the past four years. I think in 10 years, it will be a lot bigger than now.” It’s that long history and experience that makes Fanelli
so passionate about helping the industry grow, and why he seems so excited to help guide the 10 chosen studios from the accelerator. Now that games are in the spotlight, and attracting government attention, he seems keen to ensure that the future leaders of the Italian industry are able to learn the lessons of those who came before them. “I think this is a very, very good opportunity for the
industry. You know, it’s the first round, so I’m also a bit scared, because it’s the first time that I’m actually mentoring someone in an official way. I always tried to mentor smaller teams if someone asked me for help, I always try to be helpful, but this is the first time that I’m doing this kind of work. So I’m a bit scared! “But at the same time, I really think it’s a very, very good
opportunity. I really hope that the startups that we will be mentoring will try to get as much as possible from the programme. It is super intensive, actually, because we only have three months. So I really hope that they will try to get as much as possible from the programme.
“Two decades ago, there was not really an industry in Italy. Ubisoft Milan was around making Gameboy games, and later Wii and WiiU games, but it wasn’t much of an industry back then. Right now, I’m seeing that we are building an industry, which has been really accelerating in the past four years. I think in 10 years, it will be a lot bigger than now.”
“But I know [the studios] are not just there for the
money. The grant is quite generous for the industry, it’s very big compared to other initiatives like it. It’s probably one of the highest grants that there is around. But at the same time, I really want to stress that the mentoring part probably is more valuable – because the video games business is difficult. When I started, I didn’t know anything about that, so it was really tough for me. I had to learn a lot of stuff and I made a lot of mistakes back then. So I really hope to help them avoid those same mistakes.”
January 2022 MCV/DEVELOP | 27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
