A glimpse into a year of Neptunian shenanigans.
2024 was a busy year. It marked the first official year of collaboration under our new name and taught us a lot about how to keep things rolling and what hurdles await a freshly founded studio in the German games industry. In the following text, I will present a short report of our activities in the past year and how we managed to create the base of a sufficient and hopefully soon-to-be sprawling company.
1. A good game idea
It might sound obvious, but our initial journey could only be started after we managed to find the idea of a video game worth bringing to reality. Since many, many hours of our lives will be spent on this project, most even in our free time and without financial gain, we wanted to make sure, that all four of us were on the same page and hyped to start the development of
Kiosk Simulator!
The idea of this unconventional concept was formed, when the old reliable kiosk, which we frequented regularly in our study times at CGL, was robbed at the end of 2023. The sturdy chef of the shop did not hesitate and threw porcelain plates at the armed robbers, who fled immediately, shocked to their core by this upstanding citizen. After local headlines reported the incident, we knew we wanted to set an hommage to this wild event. Thus our conception started and within 6 months of free time development, a basic prototype was made, which allowed us to attract possible partners and fans to our project.
If you want to learn more details about Kiosk Simulator, check our main page or Steam!
2. Public Relations
Once we had something to show we jumped into action and attended every gaming-related event we could get access to. In the summer of 2024, we traveled quite a lot – we joined exhibitions at the Indie Game Fest in Cologne, the German Dev Days in Frankfurt, GamesGround Berlin, and of course the biggest player, Gamescom 2024! Thanks to local supporters like the Cologne Game Incubator and the Köln Business Wirtschaftsförderung, we were able to apply to have a booth at these events, without having to pay the full price for an expo spot – a chance that new Indie developers may consider since these fees are usually pretty high and unbearable for a self-sustaining project like ours.
But all the pitching, mingling, and networking proved to be fruitful and a lot of fun:
Not only were we able to accumulate a fair amount of wishlists for Kiosk Simulator, but we also made new friends and professional contacts, who will accompany us in the future. Among these refreshing interactions, one definite highlight was when popular Youtuber and Streamer Gronkh himself, checked and wishlisted our game live on Stream!
For more interviews or articles about us and our game, check the end of this page.
3. Commission Work
But while working on your passion project is a seducing task, the financial side of life will likely suffer from it. While Germany has seen a recent shift in public funds and interest in video games as part of the local industry, the chance to find investors or general help is quite dire still. While we had the luxury of getting access to an office at the venerable halls of our old university, the Cologne Game Lab, we still struggled quite a bit to survive.
However, by staying active and attending various networking events in and around Cologne, we managed to get the chance to work for hire. Two projects kicked off along Kiosk Simulator in 2024: Crypto Investigator, a collaboration with journalist Dr. Reinhard Brüning about criminal structures within the global Crypto scene, and Breaking Barriers, a mobile game app that introduces ways to make Cologne a barrier-free city in a playful manner. Second is funded by the FORD Fund Smart Mobility Challenge and when we took part in its annual pitch competition in Madrid, Neptun Interactive was able to win 2nd place with a secured price funding sum of 10.000€. A major achievement for a new studio like us and a memory we proudly look back upon.
Paid work opportunities like these allowed us to keep trucking and to stay energized when enduring the longer shifts in the office. Also, it saved our motivation to realize our in-house production, since we got a glimpse into the financial potential of video games as a full-time job.
Conclusion
So, while setting up an Indie studio in Cologne is by no means a task to be underestimated, the challenge can be quite rewarding once things slowly come into motion. Sharing a vision and goal is the most important feature any team should develop as a first step and afterwards, a settled routine and plan of action is worth considering. If you are reading this and plan to start your project, do not hesitate to hit us up via mail or LinkedIn and we gladly will share more detailed info and insights about our experiences. If you are a content creator or simply interested in getting in touch with our team, we are eager to meet you!
Until then we thank you for reading this long article and hope you enjoyed the stay on our website. Feel free to browse our projects and reach out. See you at the next event!
Additional links:
- Kölnische Rundschau, “Kölner Ideen auf der Gamescom – Schlägerei im Büdchen, gemütliches Leben im Buchladen”, Aug. 2024
- WDR, “Gamescom in Köln: Mehr als nur eine Messe für Zocker”, Aug. 2024
- FAZ, “Konferenz für Spieleentwickler tagt in Frankfurt”, Aug. 2024
- RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, „Unser Kiosk verdient sein eigenes Spiel. Also haben wir eins gemacht.“, Aug. 2024
- GaHa Games, Youtube, “5 einzigartige Indie Games – GAMESCOM 2024”, Aug. 2024
- mydealz, Youtube, “Wir suchen den nächsten Indie-Hit auf der Gamescom!”, Aug. 2024
- Spielkritik.com, “Games Ground 2024 – Die Videospielparty geht weiter”, Nov. 2024