BUas, province and city invest millions to game expertise

That is the tenor of the Breda Game Hub covenant which was signed today by Member of the Provincial Executive Martijn van Gruijthuijzen, BUas President of the Executive Board Jorrit Snijder, and Carla Kranenborg, Municipal Executive Councillor for Economic Affairs. The cosignatories are Stichting Breda Game City, BOM, REWIN West-Brabant, Braventure, Avans Hogeschool and Curio.

This is a joint press release from BUas, the Province of Noord-Brabant and the City of Breda 

The game degree programme of BUas is one of the best in the world. Some 150 students graduate here every year, over 90% of whom then leave for major game studios outside the city and region.

The Province of Noord-Brabant will make €4 million available in the coming years. Breda will invest €375,000 in branding and a marketing campaign, community building, a major video game event, a game hub with acceleration programme, the game business developer, and an acquisition programme. BUas will contribute €5.6 million to the development of the Breda Game Hub.

Carla Kranenborg – van Eerd, Municipal Executive Councillor for Economic Affairs: ‘We have a unique opportunity here to distinguish ourselves as a region. Gaming is a very substantial economic sector that is becoming more and more important to society, and Breda already has an incredible amount of expertise in the field of gaming. We want our region to benefit more from it. So, more activity, more talents finding their dream job here, and ultimately more gaming technology for social issues. With these agreements, together we contribute to a thriving, regional economy of the future.’

The collaboration focuses on developing more game business, retaining talented graduates in the region, and using game technology to address social issues in the region. The investment will enable the creation of a Game Hub on the BUas campus where small start-ups set up shop. Moreover, a Breda network of game developers can be built. Start-ups in the phases of graduation, start-up and growth can be coached and facilitated and game developers brought to Breda. There is also a budget for overall coordination and branding/marketing.

Martijn van Gruijthuijzen, Member of the Noord-Brabant Provincial Executive: ‘The game industry is bigger than the film and music industries put together. With the strength we have in the region in this field, the task now is to capitalise on opportunities. Together with companies and students, we will ensure that the games sector can land well in Breda and Brabant. In this way, we are at the basis of a new economic force in the region, we can use games and entrepreneurship to tackle social issues and talented graduates can also work in Brabant.’ 

Jorrit Snijder, President of the BUas Executive Board: ‘Recently, our game programme was voted third best in the world by GAMEducation (www.gameschools.com). We are delighted that through this initiative we can further strengthen the quality and impact of our education and thus become even more relevant to business and society.’