Every project tells a story. BSG Go! is the story of how the European game industry—driven strongly by the Baltic Sea Region—set out to strengthen its foundations and build resilience for the future.

Prelude – Every Project Begins with a Story

What is a project, really? If you look closely, it resembles a story more than a spreadsheet. There is a clear beginning - Page 1 - and, eventually, an ending - “The End.” Or at least that’s how it is planned.

Between those two points, however, a narrative unfolds. The author may know the core idea, but the story rarely follows a perfectly straight line. Unexpected turns appear, new characters enter the scene, and events unfold that were not foreseen when the first lines were written.

And like any good story, a project does not start from nothing. It is born from context—experiences, challenges, and shared realities that spark the initial idea and give it meaning.

So, what is the story of BSG Go!? What ignited it, and how did that initial idea evolve over three years of implementation? Like many classic narratives, BSG Go! followed the timeless Three-Act Structure:

• Act I: Setup – introducing the world, the characters, and the conflict
• Act II: Confrontation – facing challenges and testing ideas
• Act III: Resolution – finding lasting solutions

Act I – Setting the Scene

The first year of BSG Go! introduced us to the world in which the story takes place: the support ecosystems of the game industry across the partnering regions. These ecosystems—made up of hubs, mentors, CEOs, incubators and accelerators, investors, and publishers—form the backbone of a thriving game sector.

But this world was under pressure. The aftershocks of the pandemic, emerging geopolitical tensions, and growing environmental challenges amplified existing vulnerabilities and exposed new ones.

The central question of Act I emerged clearly:
How can we use the shared strengths of the game industry, alongside its regional diversity, to reinforce these support ecosystems and increase the impact of what they do best—supporting talent, innovation, and growth?

Act II – When Ideas Meet Reality

In the second year, the story moved into confrontation. Ideas were no longer theoretical; they were put to the test through pilots. Vision met reality—and reality, as always, had its own say.

The solutions drew on what the game industry knows best: strong communities, peer-to-peer learning, and trust built through shared experience. Personal recommendation plays a powerful role in this sector, where industry knowledge is both specialised and essential.

Guided by these principles, BSG Go! set out to:

• encourage greater investment in the early-stage tier of the industry, a core mission of support ecosystems
• expand the pool of investors accessible to mentors, hubs, and company leaders
• professionalise mentoring, both externally for start-ups and within a company through stronger team leadership
• create spaces for senior developers to exchange knowledge and define the skills needed for leadership and mentoring
• support senior female and non-binary professionals in stepping into mentoring and leadership roles
• promote sustainable practices and the responsible use of new technologies in game creation
• strengthen relationships between stakeholders by experimenting with hybrid ways of working and communicating

This act was about learning by doing—about refining ideas through experience and adapting them to the realities of the industry.

Act III – From Pilot to Permanence

The final act focuses on resolution: ensuring that what worked in the pilots would not disappear once the project ended, but instead become part of everyday practice.

The storyline moves from ideation to testing to persuasion. A strong idea only becomes a strong solution when it leaves the laboratory and proves its value in the real world. Testing confirms what works and highlights what needs adjustment—but lasting impact requires something more.

It requires convincing people to invest. Not just financially, but with time, attention, and organisational commitment.

This is particularly true for regional support ecosystems, which are often built around non-profit organisations with limited resources. Adopting a new tool, method, or strategy usually means making difficult choices—reordering priorities and letting go of something else.

Transfer, therefore, is not a single moment but a process: demonstrating value again and again, adapting solutions to real needs, and offering transparent use cases that make the required investment clear and manageable.

A Happy Ending—and a New Beginning

So, does BSG Go! have a happy ending? Absolutely.

The curated platform Spotlight has transformed the way start-ups connect with investors, offering trusted recommendations without relying on chance encounters at conferences or pitch events. This platform will continue under the stewardship of East Sweden Game.

Investor summits have already sparked new co-investments in early-stage ventures, while also building lasting networks and a shared interest in exploring new investment models across Europe. Stockholm Business Region and medianet berlin-brandenburg will carry this work forward.

Game Habitat and HTW Berlin will continue developing resilient collaboration and networking formats through hybrid communication environments.

Game Habitat and GIC (Vitruvio Foundation) are committed to strengthening female mentorship and leadership, while Stockholm Business Region is nurturing a growing sustainability-focused community of interest.

HTW Berlin and Arctic Game (Skellefteå Science City) have already launched follow-up collaborations to advance AI-driven methods in the game industry and beyond, into the wider creative economy.

And then there is THE LEAGUE—the European network of game developer hubs. More than a project result, it is proof of the power of peer-to-peer exchange and cross-regional collaboration. With 20 core members and four associated members, THE LEAGUE provides a living platform for shared learning, resilience, and future growth.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it is this: a resilient start-up and talent ecosystem—the true engine of a creative industry—depends on strong, connected support systems.

In the story of BSG Go!, THE LEAGUE is the hero. And by all indications, this is a story that will continue—happily ever after.

And so will the most pertinent tools and strategies: the platform project REAVES - Resilient Ecosystems for AV&M Entrepreneurial Support is taking up BSG Go! solutions and will promote and consolidate them with solutions from other – mostly Interreg-funded – projects from the game, film and music economic sectors.

Flashback

...to the four solutions addressing 4 challenge areas with a range of tools and activities, methods and strategies, all piloted in 19 use case scenarios:

• Solution 1: Toolbox for a resilient game investor engagement: Enhance young companies' visibility to investors and publishers, improving their chances of securing early-stage capital despite crises, while facilitating talent discovery through pre-selection curation and advanced risk assessment tools.
• Solution 2: Toolbox for resilient peer2peer environments: Strengthen the support ecosystem through Peer2Peer learning by leveraging knowledge sharing inherent in the game industry and promoting mentor-mentor and investor-investor exchange of knowledge and experiences.
• Solution 3: Toolbox for resilient work and business relations: Advise young entrepreneurs on team structure and business operations, fostering leadership competences, and develop resilient business relations through tested hybrid practices and effective engagement with team members.
• Solution 4: Toolbox for a forward-looking game business: Equip companies for future challenges with innovative business support tools and broadened business plans, while embracing SDG and cross-sectoral collaboration to enhance preparedness, innovation, and flexibility