Start up Bahrain Week kicks off

Manama : Start upBahrain Week got underway yesterday with GCC Game Conference (GCCGC), the first gaming conference to be held in Bahrain.

Gamers and game developers from around the region attended the conference held at Bahrain Polytechnic premises yesterday. 

Organised by Infiniteware in collaboration with Bahrain Polytechnic, the conference features talks by industry experts on topics such as programming, design, ethics and the business of game development.

Yesterday was also the conclusion of GCC game jam, a 48-hour game development hackathon, which launched on March 1.

“We have never had a conference like this before, so this is a brand new endeavour for us. People from all over GCC are here. The conference has two tracks, one is for business/community which is for people who are interested in creating a studio or in forming groups for game development. The other tack is the technical one, it covers the nitty-gritty of game development,” Ameen Altajer, Managing Director of Infiniteware told DT News.

“We are also showcasing the best games in the GCC today. The games were handpicked by me and they are of very high quality,” he said.

Regarding the game jam, Altajer said, “This is the third jam we have organized but this is the biggest by far.”

Startup Bahrain week is being organised by Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and Tamkeen (Labour Fund) and held under held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. The event which ends on Thursday features four more events.

Today, Rowad will host their ‘Majlis’ at Alto, Downtown Rotana. Another event held today will be CH9 and YoStartups’s event “My Startup Bootcamp”. In the heritage houses of Muharraq on Tuesday, THINKERS & DOERS will bring “Follow The Leaders” a full day of business meetings, panel discussions. On Wednesday and Thursday, Unbound, in partnership with the Bahrain EDB and supported by StartUp Bahrain, will bring its globally established, award-winning, innovation festival to Bahrain.