From February 3rd to 5th, the Croatian version of the world competition in making video games - Global Game Jam - was held in Novska. The organizers of this gamedev event are the Entrepreneurial Incubator PISMO powered by A1 and the Croatian Association of Video Game Makers HU-IZ-VI. In recent years, the number of competitors has increased, and the number of patrons has also increased with it. This year, the awards were provided by A1 Hrvatska d.o.o., the gaming equipment brand White Shark and the media company VIDI. The program that awaits the competitors was presented at the press conference held in the PISMO gaming incubator.
The competition takes place in two categories of programmers - teams of adults and high school students. Prizes for adults are provided by PISMO incubator, A1 Hrvatska and VIDI media house. First place: 1400 euros + Nintendo Switch Console + 6 months subscription to VIDI content. Second place: 500 euros + Nintendo Switch Console + 6 months subscription to VIDI content. Third place: 300 euros + Nintendo Switch Console + 6 months subscription to VIDI content. Prizes for high school teams for the best three placed teams are provided by White Shark in a wide range of products for each person in the team with a six-month subscription to VIDI content, with the total value of the prizes for high school students being 2,500 euros.
The competition to create a video game on a given topic lasts 48 hours, and is accompanied by entertainment. Namely, the chill zone will serve as a break for competitors and everyone following the competition. It will be possible to try out a gaming table with mobile games as well as a raising chair, and a chill quiz is planned for everyone who wants to step away from the screen.
Considering that one of the goals of the organizers is to draw attention to the raising of environmental awareness, it was also pointed out at the conference that the competition will be "plastic free", and that they will try to throw out plastic, and use only recycled ones. Stjepan Šmit, the owner of the White Shark gaming equipment brand, emphasized this very topic as one of the points of contact with the PISMO incubator in this competition. Namely, their company "Let s care about each other" emphasizes the protection of sharks and the use of recycled plastic extracted from the sea as an important part of its business.
Media company VIDI and their representative Tomislav Kotnik have been following gaming for many years and are eagerly awaiting this year's edition of GGJ. "Gaming and PISMO incubator are for us an example of how the economic image of a city can be developed, and that's why we support this competition," said Kotnik.
"At A1 Hrvatska, we recognize the PISMO incubator powered by A1 as an important partner with whom we share the vision of the future of the gaming ecosystem, which is primarily based on the education and training of young people. Therefore, in our work, we place emphasis on projects that support these values, and I must especially highlight our A1 Adria League, which celebrated its jubilee tenth birthday last fall. We strive every day to spread a positive influence and provide basic infrastructure to all our users of communication services, as well as to the many gamers we gather with the quality of our 5G and optical network," said Iva Ančić, head of brand, marketing communications and digital business, A1 Croatia.
"This event grows from year to year, this is shown by the number of competitors, partners and increasingly better prizes provided by our sponsors! Thank you to everyone who recognized us as the center of the Croatian gaming industry! We challenge all game developers to show their dexterity and creativity and last 48 hours!", said Andreja Šeperac from the PISMO incubator and Dominik Cvetkovski from the HU-IZ-VI association. In addition to the organizers and sponsors, there are also a number of partners who help the organization, the most prominent of which are the Reboot magazine, the utility company Novokom, the Novska High School, the Sisak Technical School, the City of Novska, the Development Agency SIMORA, the Regional Coordinator SMŽ and the County of Sisak-Moslavina.