Applications for New Digital Game Design Incubator Now Open

Photo Courtesy of NYCEDC

New Incubator Focuses on Digital Game Design and Development to Establish New York City as a Hub for Digital Game Development and Production

NYCEDC and NYU Tandon Name Incubator’s Advisory Board and Game Design Mentor Group

New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), in conjunction with NYU Tandon School of Engineering, has officially opened and launched applications for the New York City’s new digital game design incubator—the Game Design Future Lab (GDFL)—within NYU Tandon Future Labs, a startup incubator network operator founded 15 years ago with initial funding from NYCEDC. The Game Design Future Lab taps into New York City’s growing digital game development industry and aims to enable developer growth and success through personalized and strategic mentorship, industry-specific and fundamental business workshops, investor outreach, access to new technologies and network building.

Additionally, NYCEDC and NYU Tandon unveiled the initial members selected for GDFL’s Advisory Board and Game Design Mentor Group, which are both made up of industry leaders and experts who will provide support through mentorship, industry-specific resources, and network building.

NYCEDC and NYU Tandon identified an incubator as an effective method to support and build the local industry. The industry’s 7,900 jobs in New York City represent a total economic impact of $2.6 billion annually.

Selected GDFL companies will benefit from the Future Labs’ strong 15-year track record of mentoring start-ups across various sectors, with a 93 percent success rate after founding. Participants will also receive tailored mentorship and workshops specific to their startup’s goals, as well as connections to the incubator’s Advisory Board and Mentors, NYU faculty, NYU Tandon engineering expertise, and office hours with field experts. While based out of NYU Future Labs with dedicated desk space in Brooklyn, startups will also receive benefits and resources such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Hubspot.

The digital games incubator will feature annual cohorts of New York City-based digital game companies who have a functioning design prototype and are able to attend in-person sessions. Participating companies will have access to space and state-of-the-art resources at 370 Jay Street at NYU Tandon’s Brooklyn campus.

NYCEDC has partnered with NYU-led incubators since 2009, including the development of the Urban Future Lab (UFL) at NYU Tandon in 2014. NYU’s startup incubators are co-located in Downtown Brooklyn in the same building as the Center for Urban Science and Progress, an awardee of NYCEDC’s Applied Science NYC Initiative. Collectively, the Future Labs incubator network—including UFL, Data Future Lab and Veterans Future Lab—has supported 428 startups, who have raised $4.6 billion across portfolios, and created 9,510 jobs.

The GDFL Advisory Board will offer their acumen to the incubator and access to industry, as a means to support the growth of cohorts. The advisory board members include:

• Jane Chen – SVP, Integrated Marketing at Live Nation Entertainment
• Matthew Cohen – Digital Games Agent, Creative Artists Agency
• Ellen Flaherty – Director of Learning, Ecosystem & Growth, Unity Technologies
• Rowan Hajaj – Head of Finance / Corporate Development Rockstar Games
• Yoshi Ishii – Principal, Makers Fund
• Troy Kirwin – Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
• James Lewis – Director of ID@Xbox Developer Acceleration Program, Microsoft
• Jessica Rovello – Founder / Executive Chair Arkadium
• Matt Lucero – Head of Brand & Product Marketing, Bucklabs
• Michael Worosz – Chief Strategy Officer, Take-Two Interactive
• Dennis Morgan – CCO & Founder, Harlem CoLab
• Krysti Pryde – Executive Director, Playcrafting
• Caden Stobart – Chief People Officer / Head of Operations / Founder
• André Swanston – Chairman Swanston Organization
• Julian Togelius – Director, NYU Tandon Game Innovation Lab
• Yiyi Zhang – Founder Women in Games NYC, Community + PR Manager Heart Machine, Inc., Vice President Arcade Commons

Additionally, the Gaming Design Mentor Group will directly support participants with networking, business development, and the one-on-one support needed for successful growth. Mentors include:

• Ahmed Ansari – Industry Assistant Professor, Integrated Design and Media, NYU Tandon
• Hamna Faisal – Head of Partnerships & Asst. Community Manager at Indie Game Academy, Community Manager at Gumbo
• Yuichi Haga – Game Enthusiast
• Jenna Hanlon – Strategic Partnerships, Netflix Games
• Masaya Heywood – Co-Founder & Business Developer, Outfox Games
• Yohei Ishii – Principal, Makers Fund
• Scott Prather – Senior Manager, Business Development, Mattel
• Katarina Schmidt – Business Development Manager, Rovio
• Henrik Jonsson – Senior Industry Consultant, Radgivery
• Erik Kovac – Head of Marketing, Tilt
• Nicholas O’Brian – Founder, Essay Games
• David Parisi – Associate Professor in the Department of Technology, Culture, and Society, NYU Tandon, Editor of ROMchip
• Julian Togelius – Director, NYU Tandon Game Innovation Lab
• Joseph Zaarour – Founder & CEO, iSolvRisk

Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open through January 20, 2025. Selected developers will be announced in March 2025. Learn more and apply today. For more information, contact aubrey.hays@nyu.edu.

About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization that works for a vibrant, inclusive, and globally competitive economy for all New Yorkers. We take a comprehensive approach, through four main strategies: strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city’s future economy. To learn more about what we do, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About NYU Tandon
The NYU Tandon School of Engineering is home to a community of renowned faculty, undergraduate and graduate students united in a mission to understand and create technology that powers cities, enables worldwide communication, fights climate change, and builds healthier, safer, and more equitable real and digital worlds. The school’s culture centers on encouraging rigorous, interdisciplinary collaboration and research; fostering inclusivity, entrepreneurial thinking, and diverse perspectives; and creating innovative and accessible pathways for lifelong learning in STEM. NYU Tandon dates back to 1854, the founding year of both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, NYU Tandon is a vital part of New York University and its unparalleled global network. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu.