Dutch Game Garden is pleased to announce the appointment of Collin van Ginkel as our new Incubation Manager, following the departure of Aryeh Loeb. Collin will host his first Incubation session at Dutch Game Garden in Utrecht on June 7th.

“Aryeh has been an integral part of Dutch Game Garden for the past 4.5 years, during which he has supported 75 game development companies. His passion for the industry and his commitment to helping young developers succeed has been inspiring to us all. Aryeh’s departure leaves a big void, but we wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” says JP van Seventer, Managing Director.

In his exit interview, Aryeh shared some advice for Collin as he takes on the role of Incubation Manager. “I trust that Collin will know exactly what to do,” Aryeh said. “But an important lesson for me was to realize that for young developers, awareness of a certain topic is paramount. As the saying goes: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’ And this is very true for a lot of companies in Incubation. Collin, like myself, will probably want to share all of his knowledge and of the experts that join us, but it’s just not possible to become experts in a certain topic in the little amount of time we have with the studios. So if Collin can make sure that companies have good awareness, even if they’re not experts, that is a very important first step.”

Collin is a seasoned game developer and advisor who has made the transition from game development to an advisory role over the last few years. He has helped other teams who are starting out or who could use a fresh perspective from an outsider. When asked what led him to apply for the position of Incubation Manager, Collin said, “The position of Incubation Manager fits my recent shift towards helping other teams perfectly. My goal is to use the experience I gained over the last two decades to help others avoid the same mistakes I made, while still passing on the lessons learned!”

Collin is excited to take on this new role and has some big plans for the future of Dutch Game Garden’s incubation program. “I think having good people skills is essential to being a good Incubation Manager,” he said. “The program incubates roughly 20 studios at any given time. This means I’ll have to understand and communicate with a wide range of personality types and group structures. While I’m definitely up for the challenge, the world has changed quite a bit since I stopped running my own studio Two Tribes in 2016. I hope everyone will cut me some slack if I slip up and allow me to learn a bit on the job!”

When asked what sets Dutch Game Garden apart from other game incubators, Collin said, “I think the Dutch spirit prevails in the Dutch Game Garden’s incubation program. Some people might need to get used to the way the Dutch handle things, and there might be some downsides to it, but you can always expect us to be upfront and honest about important issues. You’ll always know where you stand and I’ve noticed we are quite unique like that! As for Aryeh’s legacy, I’ll adopt his formula at first and tweak it where it better suits me or the needs of the people involved. My background is firmly in development, so I expect to lean a bit more into that side as time goes by.”

We are sad to see Aryeh go, but we are excited to welcome Collin to our team. We look forward to the new ideas and perspectives he will bring to the role of Incubation Manager and the future of our incubation program. On May 3rd, people will have the opportunity to meet Collin van Ginkel during the Dutch Game Garden Network Lunch at Dotslash.

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