The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) has announced it will send six local South Australian game studios to represent the state at Gamescom 2025, showcasing their talent and potential to the world. As in past years, Gamescom 2025 will be the largest trade showcase for video games globally, bringing together publishers, developers, and enthusiasts, with more than 300,000 attendees expected this year.
With the support of the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) and CreateSA, the SAFC has plans to ‘supercharge’ its presence at the show, providing ample space and opportunity for the six studios selected.
Gamescom 2025’s South Australian delegation
As announced, the crew who’ll be travelling to Gamescom 2025 to represent South Australia are:
- Towerpoint Games (Sean Dee, Emma Waters) – Bringing their game Anvilheart, a ‘story-driven blacksmithing game’ where players ‘heat, hammer, shape and grind workpieces into useful weapons and tools for their townspeople and watch as the decisions they make in crafting change the lives of their customers, and the fate of the town.’
- Mental Jam (Emma Losin) – Bringing Bobarista, a game focussed on a ‘a wombat-turned-barista working at a magical bubble tea truck nestled on a quiet mountainside’ where players will ‘meet a diverse cast of visitors, each carrying their own struggles and a heart in need of mending.’
- Royal Reign Studios (Jacob von Appen) – Bringing Castle Cab, where you play ‘as an indestructible horse on a chaotic medieval island, delivering goods, exploring towns and causing light-hearted destruction.’
- The RND Department (Rupert McPharlin) – Bringing TOYA, a ‘unique puzzle platformer where players control a lively cube that moves by rolling around in an abstract, blocky world, navigating intricate levels filled with environmental puzzles and obstacles.’
- Bad Plan Studios (Chad Habel, Daniel McGuiness) – Bringing End of Ember, which follows a woman named Ember as she ‘is accidentally sent to Hell on her birthday, forms an unlikely alliance with a sentient chainsaw and faces off against a bewildering array of weird and gross demons.’
- Two Lives Left (John Millard) – Bringing Kaiju Battle Simular, a ‘physics-driven VR sandbox that lets players pilot a giant mech to battle towering kaiju (giant monsters) in fully destructible cities.’
Each game will be represented in a dedicated South Australian stand within IGEA’s Australian Pavilion, which is designed to be a meeting place for developers and publishers of all sorts.
‘South Australia has a rapidly growing game sector and the Malinauskas Government continues to support our local industry to develop new games and market these to the world,’ Andrea Michaels, Minister for Arts said in a press release. ‘This is an incredibly exciting industry and the exhibition at Gamescom is an opportunity to showcase South Australia’s talented gamers and for them to meet with international publishers at the largest video game event in the world.’
Kate Croser, SAFC SEO added: ‘The SAFC is thrilled to be partnering with IGEA to provide this exciting opportunity for South Australian game developers to showcase their work on the world stage and connect with the global games market at Gamescom 2025.’
‘One of the aims of the delegation is to enable SA game developers and studios to meet international publishers and attract development funding, which are key challenges for Australian game developers. We are also delighted to be exposing international audiences and market players to the SAFC’s hugely popular SAGE: SA Game Exhibition, which has grown year on year to become the state’s biggest and most exciting video games event.’
Those attending Gamescom 2025 should keep an eye out for the South Australian delegation curated by the SAFC, as well as the other games populating the Australian Pavilion. This year, Gamescom takes place from 20-24 August 2025.
