Student-founded Indie Game Studio Showcases at Gamescom

Team Dienosaur, a Malta-based indie studio founded by Institute of Digital Games students, showcased their game Internal Affairs at Gamescom - the largest international games convention in Europe. Internal Affairs was developed as part of the Game Development study unit that the students follow in their second semester of the M.Sc. in Digital Games and the team pitched their game at the European Games Night last year.

Game Development Industry

This year the team composed of Marvic Catania, Ema Grech, Paul Psaila, Roxanne Poggi, Zofia Matczak, Kyriaki Kostopoulou and later Pietro Noceti returned to Gamescom with their own booth and are developing the next Team Dienosaur game. With Internal Affairs in their portfolio, team members have also successfully transitioned into the local industry: Ema Grech works at board game studio Mighty Boards (winners of the prestigious Kennerspiel des Jahres), Roxanne Poggi has joined Hand Rock Studio as a level designer, and Pietro Noceti serves as a game designer at NARC.

Working at the Intersection of Research and Development

Their journey is a testament to the growing opportunities in Malta and the game development ecosystem thriving alongside the research community at the Institute of Digital Games, supported by GamingMalta and the newly founded Malta Game Developers Association. The M.Sc. in Digital Games bridges the practical aspects of game design and complements this with a thorough research background in game studies and artificial intelligence in games. In addition to student participation in industry events such as Gamescom and Playcon, Institute of Digital Games students have also presented their research at DIGRA - the largest academic games studies conference and have won awards for their research at the European Conference for Computer Vision.

About the Institute of Digital Games

As a premier center for education and multi-disciplinary exploration at the University of Malta, the Institute of Digital Games excels in the fields of game analysis, design, and artificial intelligence. Ranked among the top ten global entities for technical game studies, its academics are influential pioneers in their sectors, boasting a combined total of over 22,000 citations and an aggregate h-index of 170. Beyond its academic prestige, the Institute maintains robust partnerships with industry giants like Ubisoft and spearheads expansive European initiatives alongside partners such as IBM and Zaha Hadid Architects. Follow their social media or subscribe to their Newsletter to stay up to date with the latest research and events.