Institute of Digital Games students present their game at Gamescom in Germany

A team of Institute of Digital Games students pitched ‘Internal Affairs,’ the game developed in the game development study unit, at the European Game Night, an indie game showcase and networking event that kicks off Gamescom , the biggest video game industry event in Europe. Team DIEnosaur, the student team turned Indie studio, was joined by fellow Malta-based studio HASOO to pitch with some of the most promising Indie video game studios from Switzerland, France, Spain, Malta, Norway, and Germany.

French team Blue Ramen won the pitch competition with their photography game ‘Mafate’, but it is a great sign for the local video game ecosystem to have two Maltese Indie studios pitching at the European Game Night. While the industry has seen some dramatic shifts in the last few years, it still remains a powerful economic force with the revenue from the worldwide gaming market estimated at almost 455 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, exceeding the film and music industries combined.

‘We’re really proud of what our students have managed to achieve. Game development is only a part of what we do at the Institute of Digital Games, so it’s all the more impressive that they were able to showcase such a polished game on the international stage,’ explained Dr Daniel Vella, the director of the Institute of Digital Games.

In the game ‘Internal Affairs’ you play as Satan’s new intern—where your boss is the literal Devil. You will need to navigate constantly changing rules as you traverse a terrifying hellscape to carry out his bidding, to feed Cerberus.  And some of the levels in this puzzle platformer are diabolical. The game was inspired by the prompt of ‘deceptive game design’ set by the course coordinators Prof. Stefano Gualeni and Prof. Antonios Liapis and developed over the course of the semester by a small team of students - Marvic Catania, Ema Grech, Paul Psaila, Roxanne Poggi, Zofia Matczak, Kyriaki Kostopoulou and later Pietro Noceti.

‘Showcasing the game at the European Game Night and Gamescom was an eye-opening experience, not only because it exposed us to the realities of professional studios and game development, but also because it allowed us to get even more feedback from industry professionals and potential investors,’ said Roxanne Poggi, who worked as level designer on the game.

A demo of their game is available to play for free on their website. More information about the M.Sc. in Digital Games is available on the University of Malta website. The students’ participation was supported by GamingMalta and helped connect local talent with the global industry.