As Chairman of the Dutch Games Association I feel proud of everything we have achieved together over the past year. As a community, as a board, and as an operational team.
Before sharing some highlights, I want to express my sincere gratitude to our board members and operational team: Martine Spaans, Wiebe van der Werk and Alessandra van Otterlo. Their commitment, creativity, and hard work have been instrumental in everything we accomplished. It’s inspiring to see how much we can achieve when we collaborate with shared purpose and passion for the Dutch games industry.
What We Have Achieved Over the Past Year
It has been a productive period for the DGA, marked by member growth, stronger cooperation, and greater visibility.
- Membership growth: Our community has grown from around 150 to 180 members. The new membership structure has encouraged several upgrades. With special thanks to Vertigo Games for becoming a Diamond Member. Unfortunately, we also had to say goodbye to a few members, for economical reasons or because they were shifting their focus away from games.
- Operational strength: We strengthened our team with the addition of an Event Manager, improving our ability to organize events and support members.
- Visibility and communication: The DGA has been more active than ever, publishing blog posts, letters and statements, ensuring that our collective voice is heard within and beyond the Dutch games ecosystem.
- Continuity of key activities: We have taken over several important responsibilities previously managed by Dutch Game Garden, ensuring continuity in areas crucial to the industry.
- Games Monitor 2024: Successfully completed on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), offering valuable data and insights about the Dutch games sector.
- Networking and community events:
- The DGG Network Lunch smoothly transitioned into the DGA Network Lunch, maintaining its trusted format, location, and rhythm.
- We launched DGA Popup Lunches, with the most recent edition hosted in Breda.
- Playdev.club made its return as a hub for sharing knowledge and inspiration.
- Five DGA Talks were organized throughout the year, covering diverse topics across our industry.
- INDIGO & Dutch Game Day: We supported the INDIGO team and made the strategic decision to discontinue Dutch Game Day, allowing INDIGO to take center stage as the Netherlands’ leading game industry event. The first renewed edition in Rotterdam was a major success, firmly establishing INDIGO as the #1 national games industry event.
- Mentorship & Awards:
- The Dutch Game Mentors network was launched and now includes 55 mentors, connecting experienced professionals with emerging talent.
- The Dutch Game Awards gained national attention, even being featured on Jeugdjournaal for the second year in a row. This year’s edition took place during Dutch Game Week in Breda.
- International presence:
- We organized a successful Gamescom pavilion, showcasing Dutch creativity on the international stage.
- We joined a trade mission to the Tokyo Game Show, strengthening global partnerships and visibility for Dutch studios abroad.
Challenges Ahead
While we’ve made great progress, there are still challenges to tackle. We have initiated promising discussions with the Dutch government, but aside from the successful delivery of the Games Monitor, we have not yet achieved tangible policy results in 2025. Strengthening our relationship with policymakers will therefore be a key priority for 2026.
Together, we continue to build a stronger, more connected, and more visible Dutch games industry. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far and excited about what’s ahead.
— Jeroen Derwort
Chairman Dutch Games Association