BitSummit, which takes place every July in Kyoto, is the leading Japanese fair for independent video games. Kyoto is also the headquarters of Nintendo, the creators of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and many other well-known video games.
Masahiko Murakami, one of the leading figures of the fair, officially invited the Games Croatia project to be a partner of the fair. In collaboration with the PISMO Incubator and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, representatives Benjamin Noah Maričak, responsible for video games and new technologies at the HAVC Director's Office, and Mateja Olujić, 3D artist of the video game Go Home Annie, promoted the Croatian video game industry at the Games Croatia booth.
Fair participants expressed great satisfaction while playing the video game Go Home Annie, and Japanese media were also present, trying out the video game and publishing reviews about it. In addition to Croatian video games, other aspects of the Croatian video game industry were also promoted. For example, the country's ongoing efforts and successes in developing the video game sector, such as co-financing the development and production of video games by HAVC, and the previous work of the PISMO Incubator as one of the best examples of video game incubators in all of Europe, as well as the construction of their new gaming campus.
"Many meetings were held at the fair: with publishers, investors, representatives of educational institutions for video games, representatives of other global fairs, marketing and PR agencies for video games, Japanese independent video game producers, media, etc. The contacts made will greatly help position the Croatian video game industry and domestic video games in the Japanese and Asian markets," said Benjamin Noah Maričak.
The BitSummit fair was established in late 2012 to provide independent video game producers with the opportunity to showcase their video games to the world. Over the years, many prominent guests from major companies such as Sony, Nintendo, SEGA, Bandai Namco, Valve (the so-called Steam), etc., have participated in the fair. With the support of leading video game producers and publishers, BitSummit has established itself as one of the leading video game fairs in Asia.
The Games Croatia project was initiated by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre to promote and develop the Croatian video game industry at both the national and global levels. The initiative brings together key stakeholders in the Croatian video game industry, with support from the Croatian Game Developers Association (CGDA), Reboot, PISMO Incubator, the HU-IZ-VI Association, and the Croatian eSports Federation (HeSS).
Go Home Annie is a video game produced by Misfit Village and the main author Mladen Bošnjak, developed within the PISMO Incubator in Novska. The video game received funding for production from HAVC, through the Public Call for the Development and Production of Video Games in 2021. The game's story is horror-themed, set in the Žumberak Mountains, where the player, in the role of protagonist Annie, works in a secret facility testing replicas of paranormal events. The game's release is scheduled for late 2024 for personal computers and consoles.
Cover photo: Benjamin Noah Maričak and Mateja Olujić at BitSummit 2024.
