Games in Belgium - continued

I could have titled this post "Even more games in Belgium", but the event that led me to writing this post is the sad news that one of the once bigger game companies in our country has filed for bankruptcy. GriN is no more.

This is sad news, for numerous reasons

Woolfe was a promising game. I've never got around to play it but I have seen a lot of footage and gameplay - there was a lot of love and dedication in it.

My kids love the game "Forest Pals", and I mean love! They know the song in the game by heart.

Wim Wouters, the CEO of GriN is a very enthusiastic and driven game developer, who has done a lot for the Belgian Game Development scene, which makes this news extra harsh.

I wish him all the luck in the world, and lots of time to recharge his batteries. Because I know we'll see more of him in the Belgian game dev scene, he'll be back :)

In previous posts about games in Belgium I wrote that the business was expanding, rapidly. I have the impression that we're not expanding that fast anymore, but we are by no means shrinking either. Last gamescom there was a strong representation of Belgian games joined in a Belgian Booth (I should have gone this year). DAE grows in number of students (could use two of them on Kweetet, hint, hint), and news of Belgian games is popping up more and more. There are also a few entries of Belgian games in the Dutch Game Awards, curious to see if we'll win one! (And by 'we' I mean both Belgians in general and ourselves at the Kweetet team ;) )

Of course there is Larian, they have set records with Original Sin and now they're bringing an even better version to consoles. They're definitely growing strong and I'm curious to what Swen is tweeting about.

The Flemish games association is also growing stronger, I find them quite active. I really should go to one of the café events they hold, but somehow there was always something that took priority. Their list of game companies in Belgium has grown longer and I have the impression that some of them are growing well in team size. Definitely follow the Flega news and the Belgian Games Industry group on LinkedIn. So there was sad news today - but the future still looks bright :)