Tomás Franco came to Malmö from Lisbon, Portugal, to get time to focus on developing his games. For two months he worked from the guest office at Game Habitat’s shared office building DevHub in central Malmö.
– Everyone that I met here was really approachable and friendly, and the facilities at DevHub were great. There’s a big difference between game development in Sweden and Portugal, there’s a lot going on here in Sweden. I really felt it was different, more active and dynamic, says Tomás.
Got time to work
Tomás is the co-founder of indie developer The Tip Studios, currently working on NOK, a wholesome physics based puzzle game. Tomás is also currently working on a venture of his own, creating multiplayer party game BOOM 42. Plus, he is due to start teaching 3D art, specifically environment and character art, at a Lisbon University.
Getting time to work on the two projects was Tomás’ main focus while staying in Malmö. Still, he had a chance to explore the region’s games industry, and enjoy some of the social aspects of its game developer community.
– It’s good to see and meet people doing what I’m doing, that can be difficult in Portugal. There are no hubs such as DevHub in Portugal yet, so you don’t meet people in the same way that you do here. DevHub is good because it’s specifically for game developers, and it’s fun to be in a place where everyone has a game dev mindset, says Tomás.
"It was really fun"
An important feature of Malmö’s game developer community is the many events taking place. During his two months stay, Tomás got to experience a few, such as Seriously Indie, Founder’s Breakfast, Game Dev Meetup, and DevBall – a full day paintball event with 200 participating game developers.
– I still have some bruises from the paintball I think. But it was really fun. These type of activities are good to take your mind of things, while still being part of something game development related. Game development is my passion and profession, so I feel good hanging out with people with the same interest, even though we’re not always talking about game development, says Tomás.
The guest office at Game Habitat’s coworking space DevHub in Malmö is available to any game studio from elsewhere in Sweden or internationally. It’s free of charge, and can be used for up to three months. Learn more and apply here.