CONTENTS

INTRO 02

INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS 05

STUDIOS 11

GUEST ARTICLES 57

EVENTS 65

EDUCATION & GAMING 69

GAMING MEDIA 73

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES 75

MEMBERS LIST 77
INTRO
Two years ago, when we set out to establish the Serbian Games Association (SGA), we were cautiously optimis-
tic. We immediately recognized the value a trade organization such as the SGA can bring to the growth and
development of the industry. However, we were uncertain as to how big the ecosystem is and how it would
react to our initiative. Today, I am proud to say that the response was incredibly positive, and we were
blown away with the size of the ecosystem and its diversity.

SGA now has over 60 members, ranging from indie teams, esports businesses, VFX studios, to globally
recognized game developers. We also have our Partners whose services are helping our members to
develop and inspire future generations. Thanks to the activities of SGA, our members, and our partners,
the community is thriving. Together, our members have created one of the fastest-growing parts of our

INDUSTRY IN
economy, employing over 1.500 people in highly skilled and highly productive jobs. Thanks to them - our
incredibly talented people and their work, Serbia is now positioned as one of the hottest new countries for
game development.

I consider myself incredibly privileged to be at the epicenter of the Serbian games industry.
Every day, I am amazed by the creativity, hard work and persistence demonstrated by our members. From
NUMB3RS
groundbreaking technology to create digital humans, audio-based video games for visually impaired
people to massively popular mobile games, our members are pushing the boundaries of the global
video games industry.

In this inaugural report about the state of Serbian Games Industry, we have
set out to capture key data about the ecosystem, showcase our members
and to highlight an opportunity. An opportunity to join us and become
involved in one of the most dynamic and fast-growing industries, in the
world and here in Serbia.

Nikola Čavić
President, SGA
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 STUDIOS

9 SERBIAN GAMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2018

3LATERAL
3Lateral develops innovative technologies that allow the
digitization of human appearance and motion at an un-
precedented level of realism. They cover the full set of PROJECTS
solutions from 3D and 4D face and body real-life data cap-
ture infrastructure, data processing and compression algo- Marvel`s Spiderman, Electronic Arts
rithms to recreate realistic facial and body deformations Star Wars Battlefront II, Battlefield I,
and HDR representation of facial data, and articulation Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 4,
through anatomically valid and user-friendly bio-kinetic Rockstar Games Grand Theft Auto
models of humans in the digital form. Their well-balanced IV and V, Red Dead Redemption I
multidisciplinary team with artistic and technological ex- and II, Horizon Zero Dawn, Hellblade,
pertise is focused on bringing to life non-fictional and Devil May Cry 5 and many more.
fictional characters across all digital mediums. In January
2019, 3Lateral became a part of Epic Games, Unreal En-
gine team. In their accessible center of excellence, they
are making a positive impact on technology, education www.3lateral.com
and knowledge sharing among both local and global
communities. Besides the gaming industry, their technol- March 28, 2012
ogy is also applicable in many other industries like auto-
motive, medical, AI, biometrics, machine learning, and 110+ Novi Sad
many others.
Jelena Brkić
[email protected]

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COFA GAMES
COFA Games is an independent studio from Belgrade
that’s working on Awakening of Heroes, an action fight
mobile MOBA game. A small group of enthusiasts left their
jobs to start working full-time on their passion project, the
game they would like to play. Since then, the team has
expanded significantly but is working with the same zeal.
With a huge testing base, their game is getting promising
feedback from beta players, especially about the unique
characters and the innovations it’s bringing to the conser-
vative MOBA genre. Besides a classic 5v5 fight, this multi- PROJECTS
player online battle arena with captivating characters and
wacky humor features mousetraps, weaponized plants, Awakening of Heroes - Beta

and bomb touchdowns. Awakening of Heroes has been

awarded multiple times including The most promising awakeningofheroes.com
game at GDC pitch in San Francisco and The best multi-
player game at Casual Connect. 2015

10 Belgrade

Nikola Mitić
[email protected]

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FORTUNA ESPORTS
Fortuna Esports is a regional leader in the esports indus-
try. They organize events, leagues and tournaments and
do studio and video production for TV and online stream- PROJECTS
ing platforms such as Twitch or YouTube. Their audience
is young, primarily men between 13 and 35, but a whop- Esports Balkan League (LoL, CS:GO,
ping 57% are between 18 and 24. They are the first region- Dota 2), Fortuna Championship Se-
al broadcaster that acquired rights to premium esports ries (LoL), GG (entertainment), PES
events through League of Legends tournaments, Dota 2 Serbia Championship, Fortuna Cup
The International. CS:GO Majors, etc. Their portfolio also (LoL), Fortuna Friday (Fortnite, Apex
includes special entertainment shows, as well as the larg- Legends), Challengers of Serbia/
est regional esports league - Esports Balkan League (EBL). Balkan (web/TV series), LoL School
EBL is Southeastern Europe’s first professional league that, (web/TV series)
so far, had a prize fund of 140.000eur for the best players
and teams that drew the attention of the entire region. EBL fortunaesports.com
is also one of the ten leagues that have been officially rec-
ognized in Europe and they send their best teams to the January 2016
European cup (EU Masters - the esports equivalent
of Euroleague). 10 Belgrade

Mihajlo Jovanović-Džaril
[email protected]

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MAD HEAD GAMES
Mad Head Games is an award-winning and ever-growing
development studio from Serbia, founded in 2011 by a
group of experienced developers and friends. All of them
were and continue to be passionate about making games,
united around a singular vision of creating immersive, at-
mospheric and fun titles - with attention to detail, unique
style and - most importantly - heart… And a bit of insanity
too (it’s not Calm Head Games!) Their first big successes
came with HOPA titles published by Big Fish Games. In no TAGLINE
time at all, a range of titles came out, defining them both
as an innovator and a quality benchmark with the HOPA The “Madheads” remain one thing:
audience around the world. Since then, the studio grew a group of passionate gamers and
and transformed itself into a rising powerhouse of not only friends.
casual but AAA gaming. The action RPG Pagan Online, cre-
ated through a partnership with Wargaming is the studio’s madheadgames.com
biggest undertaking, but by no means the only one. In fact,
the entrance of Mad Head Games into the global world of December 2013
core gaming is just starting.
130 Novi Sad, Belgrade

Sanja Žugić
[email protected]

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NORDEUS
Nordeus started in 2010, and is an independent gaming
company based in Belgrade. Today, it employs over 170
people from across 20 countries, and is best known for Top
Eleven - the world’s most successful mobile sports game
with over 200 million registered users. Since then Nordeus
has successfully launched Golden Boot on Facebook mes-
senger, iOS and Android devices. The casual football flick
game has been played by over 67 million people. This year
saw the global launch of Heroic – Magic Duel, a fast paced PROJECTS
PvP that challenges you to build your army and dominate
the battle against others from around the world. Nordeus Top Eleven
is one of the founding members of SGA and Digital Serbia Golden Boot
Initiative, both of which help create a stimulating environ- Heroic - Magic Duel
ment for creating video games and the development of
other digital industries. In 2019, the company launched nordeus.com
Nordeus Hub - a free co-working space
specifically created for the gaming indus- 2010.
try, offering educational programs and
mentorship to support putting Serbia on 170+ Belgrade
the global map of gaming.
Miloš Đuričanin
[email protected]

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PEAKSEL
Peaksel is a mobile development and
publishing company, located in Nis,
Serbia. After 8 years of operations, the
company grew from 4 to 50 people and
managed to get over 300 million in-
stalls across the portfolio. The company
is completely privately owned with no
third-party investments up to date. With
over 300 apps and games on Google PROJECTS
Play and the Apple App Store, the com- 100 Doors: Escape the school
pany has a very diversified portfolio of Red Hands
entertainment apps and casual, puzzle Pregnant Emma The Cat
and educational games. Peaksel is proud
to have an amazing team of people and peaksel.com
a unique company culture.
May 2017

47 Niš

Marko Petkovic
[email protected]

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TWO
DESPERADOS
Two Desperados is a Belgrade based,
mobile games development studio.
Their games, Woka Woka, and Viola’s
Quest are #1 marble shooter games with
over 30 million players! The studio’s phi-
losophy is that great teams make great
games. Their people are young, talented PROJECTS
and inspired to move the boundaries of
entertainment. As one team, they are fo- Woka Woka, Viola’s Quest
cused on creating entertaining moments
and memorable experiences for millions
twodesperados.com
of our players worldwide.
2011.

25 Belgrade

Marija Ilic
[email protected]

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UBISOFT
We are Ubisoft Belgrade and our story begins in Novem-
ber 2016 when we decided to come to Serbia and open
our first studio there. As time passed, and as HQ had more
and more trust in our abilities, the team expanded and we
kept moving from one location to the other since we need-
ed more space. Now, our team is already quite big - 107
people, not only developers but also level artists and de-
signers, UI artist and dev testers. In this studio, our team is
currently working on three big titles - Ghost Recon Wild- PROJECTS
lands, Steep and The Crew. Together with other studios,
Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ghost
we worked on all game adaptations for GR and Steep.
However, we became the lead site for the entire PC adap- Recon Breakpoint, Steep, The Crew,
tation of Steep! The Crew is something entirely new, and Rainbow Six Quarantine
here we mostly contribute to the art side. Of course, this
is only the beginning. Considering that our team is com- ubisoft.com
prised of young, enthusiastic people willing to learn, we
are continuously trying to grow and further develop our November 2016
expertise, in order to bring even more interesting projects
and mandates to Belgrade. 120+ Belgrade

Luka Paunović
[email protected]

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AM-PM GAMES BABYBOTTLE
AM-PM Games is a group of indie game dev enthusiasts, This studio was founded as a result of a huge appreciation
based in a lovely town of Vrnjačka Banja. Why AM-PM? for video games and many years of work on different proj-
Because they believe that any time is a good time for ects, ranging from video production to 3D game graphics.
gaming. Currently, they are working on sever games in The studio offers outsourcing services for different plat-
different genres and for different platforms. Above all, we forms (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Hololens, Google Cardboard,
augmented reality, mobile, PC). Besides gaming, BabyBot-
value good gameplay, followed by originality and experi-
tle does digital reconstructions of antique towns, together
menting with various mechanics. Our main project is Crazy
with Vladan Zdravković (Architect Researcher). The studio
Carecrow, a hyper-casual reflex game about a scarecrow
is also developing Ninja Rope - an infinity side-scrolling
that loves and protects crows. game where the player needs to swing through levels,
avoid obstacles and gather as many stars as possible.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS

Crazy Carecrow Football Clash Arena (2D and 3D),

neXt - Voćna VR Avantura, CoffeeMath

Facebook Page 2016 babybottlestudio.com April 2017

7 Vrnjačka Predrag Nikolovski 1+ Belgrade Miljan Novčić

Banja [email protected] [email protected]

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BLACKSMITH GAMES BRAVE GIANT
Everything started in 2017 when a group of friends got an Brave Giant is a development and publishing studio that
idea to gather their professional skills in game developing, works on creating premium quality video games for PC,
design and music with a passion for video games and make Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Store. The studio developed
one on their own. Since then, they are exploring and devel- and published numerous games world-wide in more
oping new ideas for the gaming industry. Right now, they than ten different languages, across all relevant gaming
are working on an endless runner made for mobile phones markets. Thanks to building strong partnerships over the
called Orc Run. Apart from making Orc Run, blacksmiths are years, with the world’s most recognized video game com-
often guests at gaming conferences in Serbia and the rest of panies, Brave Giant reached millions of satisfied players all
the region. Their goal is to craft multiple genres for different over the globe, delivering unique and exciting games and
platforms in the future (because they are blacksmiths!) and gameplay.
through that, support the local indie game developing scene.

PROJECTS
AWARDS

Indie Prize finalists at Casual Connect Demon Hunter series, Queen’s Quest series

blacksmithgames.studio 2017 bravegiant.com 2016

2 Belgrade Bojan Smidling 9 Novi Sad Bojan Đurović

[email protected] [email protected]

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BUNKER VFX BYTE KINEMATICS
Bunker VFX was founded in 2014 in Belgrade by Ana Uzelac and Byte Kinematics is a video game and digital product devel-
Kosta Mihailovski. Studio has focused on the production of game opment studio from Serbia. The team started developing
trailers in its very beginning. After this, the studio has started work- hyper casual free-to-play mobile games and released four
ing intensely on the development of a self sustainable system suit- by mid-2018. Since then, video games, digital products,
able for this type of production. This particularly meant investing
and interactive exhibitions have become part of the port-
in experienced artists, creating unique internal pipeline tailored
folio. The multidisciplinary nature of Byte Kinematics makes
for game trailers, and also investing in hardware and software. The
combination of great internal teamwork and trustful external collab- them a great partner in resolving virtually any problem, with
oration with partners resulted in the making of cinematic trailers for proven experience in a wide range of digital developments.
AAA games. Until now, Bunker has created four blockbuster game They follow the path of good engineering practices in game
trailers which are more than successful not only with clients, but also development, work diligently on their own multiplayer
within the gaming community. Today, Bunker consists of a strong game, invest many hours into making the best PvP twin-stick
artistic team made of 40-50 artists. experience for the modern player.

PROJECTS
AAA game trailers: Doom Eternal, Rage 2, The Evil Within 2, Angry Birds, H1Z1 PROJECTS
Make Every Moment Count, Dawn of Titans, Plants vs Zombies, Summoners War, Guess It!, Two, Rainbow Loop,
MX vs ATV, Tai Chi Panda. Regional game trailers: Heroic Magic Duel (Nordeus, Going Home
RS), Pagan Online (MadHead Games, RS), Phageborn (Games Revolted, CRO)

be-anchor.com 2014 bytekinematics.com 2016

40 Belgrade Ana Uzelac 5 Belgrade Dušan Maljković

[email protected] [email protected]

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CLOCK DRIVE GAMES DEM AGOG ST UDI O
Clock Drive Games is an indie game development studio Demagog Studio creates rich narrative experiences
located in Belgrade, Serbia. They wanted to build a studio through video games, film, and music. Golf Club: Waste-
on solid foundations of ambition, friendship, and talent, land is an award-winning video game that, besides a strong
where great ideas flourish and are made into games for
storyline and visual identity, also includes a music album
the world to enjoy. It is their mission to turn dreams into
reality and they have been doing so since July 2018. At Radio Nostalgia from Mars, as well as accompanying ani-
the moment, Clock Drive Games has a dedicated team of mated movies set in the same universe. The company’s fo-
experienced and passionate developers working on their cus is developing IPs through a transmedia approach.
biggest project yet, with an idea of launching Warlander as
a PC and consoles video game.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS

Warlander GolfClub: Wasteland

warlandergame.com July 2018 demagogstudio.com December 2017

25 Belgrade Uroš Antić 7 Belgrade Igor Simić

[email protected] [email protected]

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DEVOTION STUDIOS DIGITAL ARROW
Devotion Studios is a 150 square meter studio where a team of 9 Digital Arrow was founded in 2015 by two passionate gamers,
records, designs, composes, programs and creates anything au- Ferenc Giric and Norbert Varga, who wanted to focus on
dio. Everything from Sound Design, Foley, Voice Foley, VO, Music video game production and software development of the
Composition and Audio Implementation is done using top of the
highest quality, with special attention turned to result-analysis
line gear and software. Their work is primarily focused on audio
and quality, and especially the VFM. DA studio has a team of
for AAA, Indie and iGaming video games and cinematic trailers,
but it is also a place where music is recorded and produced fre- 22 talented and ambitious people divided into the executive
quently for various different musicians and bands, whose music section, service section, production, art, QA and developers,
sometimes ends up included in trailers the studio is working on. who give their best to transform their love of video games
The studio has people well versed in all the major recording and into something new and unique. The projects they are most
audio implementation software and work in compliance with proud of are InMomentum and Aquanox: Deep descent,
worldwide industry standards. They have a genuine passion for currently in development.
everything related to audio, video games and movies.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS MotoGP (2013, 2014, 2015) MXGP, MX vs ATV, MX
vs ATV All Out, Ride, MX vs ATV Supercross Encore,
The Curse Of The Immortal Dota 2 Short 2019, A Sound Effect
Sound Design Contest 2019, Sounds From Outer Space Audioki- WRC, WRC 4, Spellforce (two expansions),
netic Wwise Blog and Heroic - Magic Duel Wreckfest, Aquanox: Deep Descent, InMomentum

Facebook Page 2013 digital-arrow.com 2010.

9 Belgrade Marko Zivanovic 22 Novi Sad Aleksandar Trudić

[email protected] [email protected]

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DON QUIXOTE ELBET
Studio Don Quixote, with their association Minotaur Production, Elbet was founded in Belgrade in 2002 as a technology
produced over 25 short and long fiction, documentaries and 3d company specializing in the development of software
animation movies and games. They are open for cooperative
productions, distributors and all kinds of people from film and solutions for the gaming industry. Their extensive portfolio
the gaming business who want to be a part of their network. The of virtual games includes a number of titles, virtual sports,
studio was established to achieve the objectives in the field of and virtual casino games. They co-operate with more than
games, cinema - the production of short and feature games and
films; but also to educate members through the workshops, to
80 operators on three continents, including four state lot-
raise the level of digital culture and for organizing game festivals. teries.
Their objectives are the promotion of digital culture, games, film,
education, especially children and youth in, game dev and film-
making. They produced the Rest House game and feature which
can be found on Steam.

PROJECTS PROJECTS

Rest House Virtual Games, WEB elbet.com

markokacanski.com 2015 elbet.rs 2002.

1 Belgrade Marko Kaćanski 25 Belgrade Danko Vuković

[email protected] [email protected]

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ENYPH GAMES ESOTERIC FORGE
Enyph Games was founded by Luka Miljuš in March 2015. This studio of two always had a dream to create their own
games. They made Primal Heroes, which is a multiplayer strat-
One year later Luka Pikula joined him as well. The main focus
egy card game in a fantasy world featuring duels and team
of the team was making games for Kongregate, but now the
battles. The game supports 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3 team battles. Bat-
team develops Android games. Their games were products
tlefields have a grid like structure where you can move your
of their learning since they were only 14 when they start- creatures and strategic points where buildings (which boost
ed developing. In every game, the team learned something all ally units) can be built. Also, creatures have different attack
new and added more complexity to the game design. Their ranges so how, where and when you move them can deter-
best projects are Puzzle Game for Kids: Cartoon characters mine the outcome of the battle. The hero is also on the bat-
and Scroller, and their latest project is “FlyOut!”, an android tlefield, actively partaking in battle, they gain experience, can
game. Although still very young, they hope to develop even level up and equip items which gives them a bigger impact on
more games in the future, and - for a living. the result of the battle. All of these factors introduce a deep
strategy element to the game.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS
Primal Heroes
Scroller, Puzzle Game for Kids: Cartoon
characters, FlyOut!, Crowd Counter

Google Site March 2015 esotericforge.com 2016

Luka Pikula 2 Belgrade Nemanja Todorović

2 Crvenka
[email protected] [email protected]

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FLAT HILL GAMES FOXY VOXEL
Flat Hill Games is a small indie game development stu- Foxy Voxel is an independent game development studio
dio specialized in VR/AR games. The company’s goal is to that brings together a group of seasoned developers to
make a sustainable business with VR games and be ready work on games they’d like to play themselves. Since late
for the market when it goes mainstream. Their first game, 2018, the team has been working on their first project -
Clash of Chefs VR, is published as an Early Access game GoingMedieval. In this colony builder set in alternate
on Steam, Oculus, and Viveport. It’s a cooking competi- post-apocalyptic medieval Europe groups of survivors
tion game where you are competing against other play- slowly emerged from society’s ashes, migrating and re-set-
ers online in order to win the bragging rights as the best tling remote areas reclaimed by nature. Players get to
chef in the world. The game currently features an Amer- guide such a group and protect them from outlaws, bar-
ican restaurant playable in single-player and multiplayer barians, and religious fanatics in a classless, borderless,
modes. The game is still in development and there are 6 lawless post-calamity age.
different restaurants planned for the full release.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS
Clash of Chefs VR
Going Medieval

flathilgames.com July 2018 foxyvoxel.io 2019

5 Vršac [email protected] 6 Novi Sad Vladimir Zivkovic, Nino Rajacic

[email protected]

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GAMEBIZ CONSULTING HORA GAMES
GameBiz is a boutique consultancy firm for the video Hora Games is a game development studio based in the
games industry. It was founded in 2018 in Belgrade, Ser- second-largest city in Serbia - Novi Sad. The studio focuses
bia by Nikola Čavić. Before founding the firm, Nikola on mobile free-to-play games, and it is defined by desire
spent more than a decade in the video games industry as and creativity to merge new technologies with a passion
a business executive and was involved in a number of in- for casual video games. Their most significant title – Crypto
ternational projects with global leaders in the sports and Idle Miner, represents just that, intention to bring block-
games industry. Today, GameBiz works with talented game chain into mobile gaming. Crypto Idle Miner is a simula-
developers who need assistance with commercial matters tion video game in which players will learn more about the
such as publishing and ads monetization. GameBiz also hectic world of crypto & blockchain and will reward their
provides industry guidance to brands and rights holders in players with their own crypto called Hora Token.
executing opportunities within the gaming space.

TAGLINE PROJECTS

Video games business experts Crypto Idle Miner

gamebizconsulting.com 2018 horagames.com April 2017

2 Belgrade Nikola Čavić 9 Novi Sad Goran Aleksić

[email protected] [email protected]

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MIRACLE DOJO M O O N B UR N T ST UD I O
Miracle Dojo is an independent game development stu- Moonburnt Studio is a three-person independent game
dio assembled to create the first-ever karate game - Karate development studio founded in September 2013 and
Do. The first mobile-only karate game is an intuitive fight- based in Serbia. In August 2016, Moonburnt raised over
ing game based on well-timed actions with a unique com- 40,000€ through a Kickstarter campaign for the develop-
bat system. The current best male karate athletes are actual ment of “COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction”, a nar-
heroes within the game. Karate Do was released in Decem- rative-focused non-linear point & click adventure for PC/
ber 2017 for Android and iOS. A year later, a big data-driv- Linux/Mac set in a post-apocalyptic steampunk-ish world.
en update called “Season 2” was released. The studio also Aside from the classic point & click adventure features, CO-
partnered up with a famous composer and singer to create LUMNAE introduces the concept of retrocausality which
a new, joyful and colorful music-themed game. Using their along with the non-linear nature of the gameplay allows
know-how, high creativity, and passion for making miracles the player to affect not only the future but also the past of
they officially stepped onto this new interesting path on their the main character and the world surrounding him.
way to the top.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS
COLUMNAE: A Past Under Construction
Karate Do

miracledojo.com October 2015 moonburntstudio.com September 2013

7 Belgrade Nemanja Tanasković 3 Belgrade Jovan Vesić

[email protected] [email protected]

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MUNZESKY ORAHARO ENTERTAINMENT

Munzesky Games Studio is an indie studio founded by two Oraharo Entertainment is a small Belgrade studio, current-
lifelong friends. Both with a degree in fine arts and a love for ly with only one team member. After a local mobile game
storytelling and science fiction. The studio is currently work- “GDE.JE” based on geolocations, “Euler the Elephant” is
ing on a cyberpunk point&click adventure game “Sol Invic- the first iOS/Android game from the studio made for the
tus”. The game features dynamic game-play, a large number global market. “GDE.JE” is a mobile version of a treasure
of unique locations and vivid characters, stylized in a soft hunt, where the player solves puzzles, reaches destinations
retro look with a constant side view perspective, giving hom- in Belgrade and competes for the main prize. This HTML5
age to the golden age of video games. All characters in the game runs from the browser and doesn’t require an in-
game are real “actors” integrated into a hybrid combination stallation. “Euler the Elephant” stars a little elephant, who
of hand-drawn environments and 3D animation. The studio solves puzzles by roaming accross floating islands and the
has also made a spinoff to the game, an interactive comic bridges connecting them.
book “The Heist” in collaboration with their friends from
Croatia, “Gamechuck”.

TAGLINE PROJECTS

When will these guys Euler The Elephant

finish this game?! :)

munzeskygames.wordpress.com 2015 oraharo.com 2017

1 Belgrade Ivan Stikic 1 Belgrade Momčilo Kovač, CEO

[email protected] [email protected]

47 SERBIAN GAMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2018 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8 48

PWNRS RAIGON
PWNRS is an independent, bootstrapped studio working on They were three high school friends. They shared the same vi-
its flagship title - Football Tactics Arena (FTA). The compa- sion of playing video games and, more importantly, the same
ny is a mix of IT industry veterans, that released the original goal - to make a dent in the gaming industry. Some of them
concept of the game more than 10 years ago and young were already experienced in developing games, and some
award-winning talents. The company is living in the world of were just beginning. Everyone was good at something and the
simultaneously turn-based tactical, free to play, mechanics. team shared knowledge. They strengthened teamwork trough
Data analytics is an integral and highly valued part of the competitions and Game Jams. They visited meetups and talks
company’s modus operandi. Football Tactics Arena (FTA) is about gaming. And soon - started developing their first game
a turn-based tactical mobile multiplayer game where two - Heister. The first few prototypes were failures, but the team
players try to outsmart and outthink each other on a football finally nailed it. From a first-person shooter to a top-down
pitch; it’s a strategic adventure that rewards complex deci- stealth game, from Unity to Unreal Engine, and from three
sion-making rather than just having fast reflexes. friends to a mighty trio, they came a long, long way! Today
they stand united under a single name - Raigon.

TAGLINE
PROJECTS

Forging a new era of gaming

Football Tactics Arena (FTA)

pwn.rs 2017 heister.rs March 2019

9 Belgrade Ivan Aksentijević 3 Belgrade Maksim Jovovic

[email protected] [email protected]

49 SERBIAN GAMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2018 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8 50

STARGAZER SUPERVERSE INDUSTRIES

Stargazer studio is a hobby project, started by Filip Ras- Superverse Industries is a game development and publishing
tović and Jan Sulja. They met at University while studying company based in Belgrade / Europe, founded by Nemanja
computer science and automation and found that they Bondžulić in 2002. From its beginning, the company has been
have many things in common. Love for science, tech- known under the name of Industry Entertainment. In May
nology, music, and visual arts. Combining all those, they 2018 the company name has been changed to Superverse
wanted to make something original. The studio published Industries. With origins in the computer demo scene, Super-
their MVP as a non-exclusive license with Armorgames verse Industries is now working with the same passion on
and Newgrounds; after that around 40 gaming websites creating impressive interactive audio-visual experiences. The
company is currently developing SUPERVERSE, a fast-paced
fetched their game and published it, without permission,
arcade space shooter game in which the player explores an
which was their intention. The two are preparing a Steam
ancient network of unique “pocket” universes interconnected
release for PC and macOS. The game is also available for by wormhole super-highways in a search of a way to return to
Android devices. the past and prevent the destruction of his homeworld.

PROJECTS
PROJECTS
Keno, Fast Coin, Lucky Greek MONSTA, Jack BBQ (Jack or 100 ways to barbeque),
Master Kick, Table Football XL, Superverse

stargazerstudio.net indus3.org 2002.

2 Belgrade Filip Rastovic 5 Belgrade Nemanja Bondžulić

[email protected] [email protected]

51 SERBIAN GAMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2018 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8 52

TUMMY GAMES WAVEFO RM ST UDI O
Tummy Games is a small gaming company located in the Nikola Nikita Jeremić is a professional video-game music com-
city of Novi Sad. The studio focuses on hyper casual and poser and has been actively working in this field for the past six
idle games. Tummy Games has partnered over the years years. He is the CEO and mastermind behind the Waveform Stu-
with top publishers like Voodoo, LionStudios, KetchApps dio. He worked on mobile games, HOPA projects and indie ti-
and Green panda Games. Their top game at this moment tles, and eventually, he ended up in the world AAA league. He’s
is Volley Beans that was published in partnership with Voo- mostly working with regional developers, but his experience and
doo. work ethic have been recognized all over the globe. For the past
four years, he has been a member of teams that worked on proj-
ects the likes of Destiny 2, Destiny 2 Warmind, Witcher Wild Hunt
and Warhammer 40. He has received many awards in the area of
sound design and video.game music, presented to him by The
Audio Engineering Society (AES).

PROJECTS PROJECTS

Tummy Slide, Idle Crypto Tycoon, Destiny 2, Destiny 2 Warmind, Witcher Wild Hunt,
Helix Dunk, Volley Beans Warhammer 40K Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2

tummygames.com 2016 2013

5 Novi Sad Nemanja Divjak 1 Belgrade Nikola Jeremic

[email protected] [email protected]

53 SERBIAN GAMING INDUSTRY REPORT 2018 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8 54

ZERO GRAVITY
Zero Gravity is an indie game development studio located
in Belgrade, Serbia. The passion for gaming brought the
team together and is the driving force behind their efforts.
They dream of the future of gaming. Intelligent gameplay,
thrilling atmosphere, and exciting player interaction, all
rooted in an immersive virtual world - this is the studio’s
working framework. They have set their course by the stars
and there are no passengers on their spaceship - they are

THOUGHTS FROM A F EW
all crew.

INDUSTRY LEADERS
PROJECTS

Hellion

playhellion.com August 2015

5 Belgrade Miroslav Micevic

[email protected]

55
EVENTS SANJA ŽUGIĆ How are things at the moment? ation local companies have spent more than a year
OPERATIONS MANAGER, MAD HEAD GAMES organizing meetups, workshops, panels, game jams,
As someone whose initiative jump-started the com- and more. These events and all other forms of collab-
munity, and as someone who was among the first oration help bridge the gap between the local com-
people who started organizing gaming events in Ser- munity and international professionals and compa-
Gaming industry has been around for more than 40 years, in Serbia almost two
bia I would like to mention some of the most regular nies.
decades. Aside from the development side, which is obviously crucial for the
events.
game, marketing plays a very important role. And included in this is an often What do we need to do next?
overlooked part - and that is the organization of gaming-related events. First, the LevelUp Serbia initiative, comprised of pro-
fessionals and enthusiasts who were the first ones to It’s crucial that the events we are already working on
Why are these specialised events so important? unite and organize different meetups and gatherings. keep growing with every edition. We need to bring as
On a more subjective note, I have to mention Game- many quality, international educators to learn from as
On the one hand, it Up - the first gaming event in Serbia that has, for the possible. From the perspective of someone working
“HERE IS WHERE PEOPLE would be easy to dis- past five years in a row, gathered local and regional in a gaming company, I think that business-2-busi-
CONNECT, LEARN, TEST miss them as something companies, professionals, artists, indie developers, ness (B2B) oriented events are something we miss
we do automatically, and game lovers. From humble beginnings to several the most. B2B events are the place where you make
THEIR GAMES AND MOST thousands of visitors in a single day, I truly believe that crucial contacts and create relationships that allow a
and that presumably
IMPORTANTLY, PRESENT THE GameUp helped our community grow stronger. I also smaller game to grow into a global phenomenon. A
gathers a relatively
believe that its best days are yet to come. conference where Serbian developers and
FINAL PRODUCT THAT HAS small amount of both
indie teams can connect with other de-
visitors and industry Besides GameUp, there is Games.con, a festival dedi- velopers, publishers, and experts in
BEEN IN THE MAKING FOR
professionals. On the cated to the gaming and pop culture - gathering com- different fields of the gaming industry
MONTHS, OR EVEN YEARS.” other hand, practice has panies, gamers, cosplayers and gaming tournaments is an exceptional opportuni-
shown that these events are extremely for the past three years. In terms of the number of vis- ty for the entire Serbi-
important and in many ways paramount for the development of a healthy and itors, it is the biggest event in the country. an game dev industry.
growing industry. Why? Because depending on the type of the event, here is
where people connect, learn, test their games and most importantly, present At the same time, the Serbian Games Association
the final product that has been in the making for months, or even years. (SGA) united all local companies into a community
with immense potential. With the help of the Associ-

57 58
GAME ART VLADIMIR KUZEVSKI What are our strengths introduced a few years back, and a few programs that offer
game art education partially via game art courses. These ef-
CHARACTER ARTIST, 3LATERAL The number of people who are working in game develop- forts are a great way to enrich game art communities with
ment in Serbia is rising each day. Having education in spe- fresh talent and ideas. These will hopefully intensify in the
“Stop playing video games, you are wasting your time!” These words are always echoing in my coming years.
head every time I see some kid or an esports team win some mayor competition, or a studio an- The next step is to build an ecosystem of competitive game
development studios to allow students or self-taught artists Companies and Open days
nounces the success of their game. That’s also what I thought when 3Lateral, once a small studio
creating digital humans for the gaming industry joined one of the biggest game to demonstrate their potential. Companies should be open to promote their work in or-
development companies in the world - Epic Games. Being part of a generation der to bring it closer to students, universities, and children
that basically grew up playing video games, the notion that playing them is a Working in game development can sometimes feel like you directly. A good example of this are “Open days” events,
waste of time is making less sense with each passing day. are part of a small, exclusive community, which leads to a where companies open their doors and share a glimpse into
great cooperation between the studios. One of the good their work. Companies can offer a lot to attendees, showing
A little bit about game art examples of this is a cooperation between Nordeus, Bun-
kerVFX studio and 3Lateral, in creating the cinematic trailer projects, organizing workshops - with a general goal to mo-
Creating game art isn’t just about creating pretty environments or jaw-dropping for “Heroic: Magic Duel”. This is as far as I know one of the tivate kids with positive examples, showing that they do not
have to go abroad in order to be successful artists or to be
be in a health bar, what color, what shape, etc... Game art involves a wide spec-
involved in world-changing projects.
ter of sub-disciplines that are combined in a pipeline in order to create games. Individual talents
Recognizing game developement
Current Game Art scene in Serbia
Worldwide, the video game development in- community are the artists, and they do Reading this report, I think a lot of people in the gaming industry
̏ HE NEXT STEP IS TO BUILD AN
T dustry is growing rapidly. It’s becoming clear - feel the same. Recognising game development as an official pro-
that the industry has a bright future. In Serbia, bia, while they can still be engaged in a wide range of proj- fession by the government is becoming more and more crucial
ECOSYSTEM OF COMPETITIVE
there are a few companies that are industry ects for the game industry. The work that they do is astonish- for further growth of the industry. And by further systematization
GAME DEVELOPMENT STUDIOS ing, and one of the main values is their willingness to share of game development professions we can guideline and increase
3Lateral are putting Serbia forward to become knowledge with the rest of the community through presen- the specific expertise of each individual.
TO ALLOW STUDENTS OR SELF- recognized as the country that is expanding the frontiers tations at conferences, online courses, social media groups.
of the gaming industry. Therefore, Game Development is The game development industry is one of the most creative and
TAUGHT ARTISTS TO DEMON- becoming recognized as the most lucrative branch of the Education fun industries someone can work in, but also one that requires a
country’s future development. One important consequence
lot of commitment and passion for the work. Some would argue
STRATE THEIR POTENTIAL. is the recent arrival of Epic Games, as well as Ubisoft, which While the game art scene in Serbia is in a good state, there
present game development industry leaders globally. I am that creating video games is like playing one of the most fulfilling
are still a lot of obstacles to be overcome. In higher educa-
sure more will follow! games you can play. So are video games really a waste of time? :)
tion, few programs that focus on game art have only been

59 60
USER
Regarding the funding part, in the last 2 years there has been a growing number of opportunities for funding and
sub-funding by the Republic of Serbia, but also from donations and funds from the EU, and private companies, which

ACQUISITION
I see as some progress with room to improve even more. The question is: how to improve the present state?
MARIJANA NIKOLIĆ
UA/ASO SPECIALIST, PEAKSEL
The funding problem could be solved
in two ways. One is to secure better ac-
If you take a look at the Serbian mobile gaming scene from the ONLY THE BIGGEST COMPANIES ARE DOING UA cess to investors through local events
paid user acquisition (UA) perspective, you can see that a very and shared business connections. The
ON A LARGER SCALE AND WITH 10+ AD NETWORKS, other is educating the banking sector
small percentage of gaming studios are doing paid UA. Some
companies which adopted the self-publishing strategy are SIMPLY BECAUSE STARTING WITH EACH AD on how to evaluate projects in gaming
doing UA on their own and some are working with publishers so they can open up project-based fi-
NETWORK REQUIRES SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS nancing options to this industry, not just
from abroad. The rest rely on organic installs or make games as
a service for clients. DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS AND MORE EXPENSIVE real estate.
TOOLS (ANALYTICS AND FRAUD PROTECTION).
The reason for this situation is that the majority of gaming stu- When it comes to education, it is up
dios lack knowledge or funds - or both. At some level, many stu- to those who have gained knowledge
dios are slowly picking up on self-serving platforms like Facebook from online resources or the aforemen-
and Google Ads, but only the biggest companies are doing UA on a larger scale tioned Google events to share it with the community. This is a direct benefit for everyone since there
and with 10+ ad networks, simply because starting with each ad network re- are not many direct competitors in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslavian gaming landscapes. A signifi-
quires significant business development efforts and more expensive tools (ana- cant improvement in general knowledge sharing has been seen since the formation of the Serbian
lytics and fraud protection). Games Association and regular gaming community meetups, but UA still needs
to get its momentum.
In terms of education, apart from online learning resources, there are not enough
events where developers can hear more about UA. Still, in the last 2 years, Goo- Looking into the future, I expect paid user acquisition to grow and can
gle started paying more attention to our region and experts from Google have confidently say that there will be an increased number of successful
held multiple educational events on the subject. titles from Serbia.

61 62
DEVELOPMENT SRĐA ŠTETIĆ-KOZIĆ Watching the development of the game making scene during that time was nothing short of amazing. From maybe
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER, NORDEUS 3 companies making games, very quickly it became dozens. In my opinion, our practical, technical education for pro-
grammers is great, and is the primary reason why the game making scene managed to take off so quickly. To kickstart
the game making scene from nothing, you need talented programmers.
Looking back at the (ancient) past when I was starting University, my classmates and
I were a group of young, starry-eyed students that wanted to become software One important distinction between game making and most traditional branches of software development is in the
engineers so we could make cool things. Everybody had a different idea of what sheer number of different skills you need to make a good game. Suddenly, you’re no longer only working with other
cool things they wanted to make, but for me it was games. programmers, but with designers, artists, translators, marketeers, and many others from vastly different backgrounds.
Collaboration such as this, is something that needs to be more present in our education, as it’s quickly becoming a
reality for programmers everywhere, and not only in games.

“TO KICKSTART THE GAME MAKING Compared to the rest of the world, the games industry in Serbia is still very young, we only have
SCENE FROM NOTHING, YOU NEED around 10 years under our belts. The rest of the world has almost 40. Organizing game jams and
supporting the indie scene with initiatives such as SGA are great first steps, and knowledge
TALENTED PROGRAMMERS.” exchange and collaboration are the next things we should seriously tackle. We are contribut-
ing to this by starting Norderus Hub, the more we share, the better we will all do and be
closer to other cities that have developed into gaming powerhouses. We are off to
Back then, it looked like a career in game making was simply unrealistic in Serbia. a great start, but we still have a long road ahead, so think about this - where are
Luckily, near the end of our studies, a few companies found success and it became we in the next 10 years?
possible. That was 7 years ago.

63 64
EVENTS GAMEJAMS
The gaming industry is an interesting amalgam of professionals, enthusiasts, and creatives of all backgrounds and The ultimate game-making challenges, GameJams are a fa-
skillsets and is notorious for its refusal to play by the book. This resulted in networking and expo events unlike in any mous training ground for young and experienced teams alike.
other industry. The same goes for Serbia. Teams of usually 3-5 people have 24 (rarely 48) hours to make
a game from scratch. This type of event is very popular in the
The game dev community emerged entirely on its own and grew considerably since the humble beginnings. Events community, and we noticed an interesting trend - the appli-
played a crucial role in this rapid development. Local communities organized independent meetups to share experience, trials cants keep getting younger! It feels there’s an army of talent-
and errors, post partums and post mortems. Slowly, these events, following the changes within the industry, started evolving into ed young people eager to join the industry. So far, the SGA
a solid network of local, state and international events. organized two GameJams. We partnered up with Facebook
for the first one, and Unity for the second. Besides competing
for solid awards, these events present an opportunity to be
mentored by leading experts in the global game dev industry,
which is something we plan to put an accent on in the future.

MEETUPS
Meetups are locally organized community gatherings
where industry professionals share hard-earned knowl-
GAMES.CON
edge or talk about their latest projects. These have mostly In terms of consumer-oriented expos, Games.con is definitely
been organized independently by various groups (LevelUp the biggest game and pop-culture event in the region. Held
Serbia, Indiestellar) or as part of initiatives and yearly pro- annually at the Belgrade Fair, it’s the first and (so far) the only
grams in many IT hubs all over the country (StartIt Center, convention of this size, housing the entire modern entertain-
Impact Hub, ICT Hub, StartIt Center Nis, etc). SGA meetups ment industry under one roof. A crowd of almost 50.000
are now a monthly tradition, and we’re happy to say that visitors walked through the gates in 2018, and the event is
the game dev community is tangibly more engaged since only expected to grow with each edition. In terms of our
our efforts have begun - almost 25 meetups ago. involvement, the SGA hosts the Indie Showcase booth, where
we give an opportunity to our indie teams to gather feedback
and show their creations often for the first time.
65
65 66
GAMEUP
Our founding member Mad Head Games stands behind one
of the biggest annual gaming events in Serbia - GameUp.
After five installments so far, it’s safe to assume that it will
continue to grow and influence not only the local but the
regional scene as well. It’s an event dedicated to connecting
industry professionals, indie developers, and fans by pro-
moting the growing video games industry in the SEE region.
Its mission is to strengthen and promote the local game dev
community, its games, and achievements, through various
program sections. So far - it’s been a one-day event,

EDUCATION AND
welcoming more than 2.500 guests.

GAMING
E-SPORTS
Thanks to our founding member Fortuna Esports, the world-
class esports and competitive gaming is flourishing in
Serbia. Belgrade is at the heart of regional e-sport events,
where teams specializing mainly in LoL, Dota and
CS:GO compete for their place under the Sun, but
also valuable rewards, and ultimately, qualifications
for European competitions. There are also various
other events, viewing parties, tournaments and
leagues, the most notable being the EBL (Esports
Balkan League). Live finals usually gather
enthusiastic crowds of around 2.000 people.

67
EDUCATION *This is a list of some programs that include anything from one to
several individual game-related subjects. If there are more to be
There are currently 30.000 university stu- covered, let us know, we would be more than happy to update the
dents in Mathematics, IT and Computing, and list in our next report.
10.000 more high-schoolers learning about Me- WHERE DO MOST PROGRAMMERS
chanics and Electronics across Serbia. In addition, there’s BELGRADE COME FROM?
a number of initiatives dedicated to improving educational
opportunities for the IT sector and creative industries. • Faculty of Contemporary Arts, Graphic Design department Based on the annual research of the development
- Animation, Illustration and Game Art scene in Serbia conducted by StartIt, top five univer-
Thanks to the Petlja foundation, Serbia is one of the very sities attended by graduate developers are:
few countries in the world where computer science and pro- • College of Vocational Studies – Belgrade Polytechnic
gramming is taught in primary school, starting in fifth grade. - Concept Art and Character Design
With plans to introduce programming as early as the first 1. University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences
grade in the near future, Serbia is ensuring it will remain • Metropolitan University, Faculty of Information Technology 2. University of Belgrade, School of Electrical Engineering
ranked highly on the global map of talent. - Game development
3. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences

Another great leap was made this year by DSI (Digital Ser- • Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade 4. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mathematics
bia Initiative). In collaboration with several state Universities - Dramaturgy; Sound Recording and Design 5. University of Niš, Faculty of Electronic Engineering
and over 75 companies, they developed four Master 4.0
programs that combine learning about advanced technolo- NOVI SAD
gies with business skills needed to create competitive digi-
tal products and services. • University of Novi Sad, Academy of Arts,
Undergraduate academic studies - Video game design
In order to help continue these positive trends, SGA and
our partners plan to work closely with Government officials, MASTER 4.0 PROGRAM
all relevant Ministries, and university decision-makers to
find the best and fastest way to advance the process. In the • Intelligent data analysis (University of Niš)
following years, we will focus on helping acquire accredi-
tations for new programs, creating up-to-date curriculums • Advanced IT in digital transformation
and finding the right educators and certified mentors to (ETF, FON - University of Belgrade)
share industry knowledge and experience.

69 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8
70
NORDEUS HUB
Already this year, various programs and commu-
nity events have occurred, including the inaugural
Booster Program. With over 40 active participants, the
September 2019 saw the launch of Nordeus Hub - a completely free co-working space in New Belgrade. Specifically 6-month program consists of mentorship support from
created to boost the gaming ecosystem in Serbia, Nordeus Hub is the first of its kind in the country to be solely dedicat- experts within Nordeus, tailored workshops based on their
ed to supporting the gaming industry in the development of indie teams and the empowerment of talent. needs, plus the space to work, collaborate and grow as teams.
While there has also been an effort to boost the collective knowl-
A space for gaming professionals and students, the aim is to bring them together and support them to make a vibrant commu- edge of gaming in our community, through the first series of In-
nity and prosperous industry. Through offering tailored programs, Nordeus Hub is becoming a center of game making, where tro 2 Gaming events. The knowledge shared during them is also
people can collaborate and find teammates while they learn and develop their skills through the experience of making games. accessible on the Nordeus Hub Youtube channel as an online
resource.

Nordeus Hub will look to complement all the ongoing work hap-
pening through SGA, further fueling the industry by encouraging
new gaming companies, supporting their growth, and offering
education for all communities within the ecosystem. Ultimately
to support putting Serbia on the global map of gaming.

nordeus.com/nordeus-hub

YouTube

71 72
GAMING MEDIA
In the past several years, news about the latest releases, openings of new studios and success stories in game dev have become
a regular occurrence. We’d like to highlight several channels that are doing an amazing job in keeping gamers and wider audi-
ences informed about the latest gaming developments, both in Serbia, and the global scene.

Svet kompjutera - A household Gamer - Both a printed, monthly

name and a pioneer in tech jour- magazine and an online gaming
nalism, SK was first published in portal. First issued in 2005 under
1984. Since then, it remains one of the name “ScreenFun”, it highlights

INVESTMENT
the most-read print magazines cov- new releases, covers world gaming
ering IT news, reviewing hardware news and keeps true to the tradition

OPPORTUNITIES
and games alike, with sharp op-eds of printing game posters.
and almost a cult following among
developers and hard-core gamers.

PLAY! Zine - A free, online, PDF

gaming magazine with over 130
editions so far. A passion project
made by dedicated gamers, with a
tight knight community of readers.
An avid supporter of the Serbian
gaming industry with more and
more pages in each edition.

73
 That scene is set to change as the government introduced
tax incentives in 2019, where tech startups, including gaming
ones, can pay almost no corporate income tax thanks to the

1 WHY YOU SHOULD generous programs and incentives. As a result of these incen-

INVEST IN SERBIA
tives, there is a surge of interest among domestic and interna-
tional investors in Serbian gaming studios. In the first half of
3 TALENT
14
2019, we already had two major acquisitions. Epic Games ac-
CRVENKA
quiring 3Lateral, a Novi Sad based studio with 100+ employ-
1 1 INVESTMENT ees, and Playrix acquiring Eipix, also a Novi Sad based studio There are an estimated 1.500 people employed in the
NOVI SAD 2
OPPORTUNITIES with 180 employees. These giants from the video games in- video games sector in Serbia. The workforce is diverse and is

41 Serbia is home to an estimated

dustry have joined Ubisoft, who opened a studio in Belgrade
3 years ago and already has well over a hundred employees.
expected to grow as more than half of the companies are look-
ing to expand in 2019. However, despite the diversity, Serbia is
VRŠAC 70+ studios and companies. For
most known for its highly skilled engineers and programmers.
Besides the existing professionals, there are currently 30.000
the vast majority of them, includ- 2 TOP GAMING ECOSYSTEM university students in Mathematics, IT and Computing, and
PANČEVO 1 ing the globally successful ones,
they had no starting capital and IN EUROPE TO WATCH OUT FOR 10.000 more high-schoolers learning about Mechanics and
Electronics across Serbia. Thanks to the collaboration of the
bootstrapped all the way to the
This year’s edition of the global start-up report by Startup Ge- Petlja foundation and the government, Serbia is one of the very
BELGRADE top. Despite the unprecedented
1 growth of the sector, most of it
nome underlined Serbia as the place to watch out for in the
next period. The ecosystem is seeing particularly noteworthy
few countries in the world where computer science
and programming is taught in primary school,
has continued to be organic.
GORNJI MILANOVAC 4 Even in 2018, the majority of
success in Gaming and Blockchain technology. Here are some
useful stats from the report:
starting in the fifth grade. With plans to intro-
duce programming as early as the first grade
the raised capital is sourced
in the near future, Serbia is ensuring it will
from friends and family. 60% • As a high-growth ecosystem, Belgrade and Novi Sad
VRNJAČKA BANJA remain ranked highly on the global map of
of companies we interviewed have a Funding Growth Index of a 10 and Output
talented engineers for the
for this report stated they are Growth Index of 9.
foreseeable future.
seeking capital investment in
NIŠ 2019 to enable faster growth and • The region is in the top 5 ecosystems for affordable tal-
development. Two-thirds are look- ent, with access to high-quality engineering talent.
ing to raise pre-seed money, below
• Tech startups pay almost no corporate income tax; they
500 thousand euros, while the rest is enjoy accelerated R&D reduction (2x) and IP Box (3%)
pursuing a seed round, up to 5 million euros. tax regimes.

75 S E RB I AN G A M I N G I N D U ST RY R EP O RT 2 0 1 8
76
SGA MEMBERS COMPLETE LIST OUR PARTNERS
3lateral Euclidean Studios Sobakaisti
4 Save Soft Flat Hill Games Software Wolf Studio
Adreamation Fortuna E-Sports SoZap
Alset Studio Foxy Voxel Spring Onion
AM PM Games Game Biz Consulting Stargazer Studio
BabyBottle Gorostas Game Studio Stick and Rope
Blacksmith Studios Hora Games Studio Don Kihot
Brave Giant Illusio Pictures Stygian Software
Bunker VFX Kerber Games Superverse Industries
Byte Kinematics KUKURU3 SupremeNexus
Clock Drive Games Mad Head Games Thorium Studios
COFA Games MarbleIT Three Swords Studio
Comparative Miracle Dojo Thunder Strike
Parents of Gamers Indiestellar
Crater VFX Training Center Mogul Digital Tummy Games
Demagog Studio Moonburnt Studio Two Desperados
Devotion Studios Munzesky Studio Ubisoft
Digital Arrow Nordeus Waveform Studio
Eipix Oraharo Webelinx We’re partnering up with different institutions, IT hubs, and indie initiatives to
ElBet Peaksel Whyttest further boost the Serbian gaming industry. Together, we’re creating events,
Enyph Games Pixquake Yboga programs, and regulations that will shape the future of game dev.
Esoter Studio PWNRS Zero Gravity
Esoteric Forge Raigon

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