Happy Holidays & Annual review

Dear members,

I restarted writing this message a few times because I simply find it difficult to recap 2023. There’s a long list of highlights, but in-between your Spotify Wrapped, Duolingo Review, and the radio his lists, another list is the last thing you need 😉

Of course, the visit from H.M. Queen Maxima was an absolute honour and it has definitely had a positive impact on our ongoing talks with government representatives. But I’m equally proud that we’ve now grown to more than 130 members and the fact that we managed to organize another successful NL Lounge at GDC, a trade mission to the Tokyo Games Show and a 273m2 Gamescom NL Pavilion. And let’s not forget our own events. We hosted several DGA Talks addressing Serious Games, AI and Game Education. And the Dutch Game Day powered by Control was completely sold out this year.

The Dutch Game Awards are an annual highlight for me. Not just because of the joy on stage when winners receive their award, but mostly because of the overwhelming support the industry has for each other. It really shows during this night. When the worst event feedback you get is that there is “too much clapping”, I think that shows we’re on the right track in terms of celebrating and supporting each other.

That kind of support is what carries our industry forward. As a trade association we handle as much work as we possibly can, but we can’t do it all alone. So I’m thrilled that in January we’ll kick off two 2 volunteer task forces; for the Governmental Relations and for the Serious Games representation. In both these areas we’ve made progress this year, but there is room for a lot of growth and I know that together with these bright minds, and with the support of our regional partners, we can make this happen.

Speaking of volunteers, I’d like to make a special shoutout to our board members. The energy, ideas and time they pour into our organization propel our many initiatives forward.
I’m not sure how many people can say “I look forward to my monthly meetings with the board”. I may be a lucky exception.
If you’d like to join our fantastic board, we currently have 2 positions open: Chairperson and Government Relations.

So cheers to all our members, partners & volunteers; you’re awesome.
Let’s carry the success forward in 2024.

Martine Spaans
General Manager

PS: Not a member yet? Join us and help us to make the Dutch game industry an even bigger and better industry!