HONG KONG, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 3rd Hong Kong Game Enhancement and Promotion Scheme (GEPS) organized by The Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association (HKDEA) with Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as the lead sponsor, held an Awards Presentation Ceremony cum Experience Sharing Seminar on 18 May 2023. The Awards Presentation Ceremony was officiated by Mrs. Lowell CHO LAI Suk Ha, Assistant Head of CreateHK as the Guest of Honour, and Mr. Gabriel PANG, Chairman of the HKDEA. At the ceremony, four winners were also bestowed with certificates of excellence for their outstanding performances under the scheme. The event was concluded with experience sharing by representatives of game start-ups of their participation in the current GEPS.

The GEPS supports 12 local game start-ups for them to improve the quality and profitability of a designated digital game each, so as to further enhance the competitiveness of local game industry. During the planning period, these 12 games has been promoted to 80 million reaches, generated over 1.5 million downloads and nearly 9 million Hong Kong dollar revenue in total.

Mrs. CHO LAI Suk Ha, Lowell, Assistant Head of CreateHK, expressed her gratitude to the HKDEA for organizing the GEPS again and congratulated the four winners.

Mr. Gabriel PANG, Chairman of the HKDEA, said that, "The HKDEA has been providing support to local game start-ups through the GEPS to boost the game industry in Hong Kong. The support can improve the participating companies' exposure and help them expand into overseas markets, while enhancing the quality and profitability of their games. We believe the creative industries in Hong Kong have immense potential for growth. By supporting start-ups, we can inject new vitality and creativity into Hong Kong's game industry and further strengthen its capabilities, which in turn can also propel the entire economy of Hong Kong."

The 3^rd GEPS provides holistic support which includes, among others, arrays of training by industry experts who have shared their first-hand experience in operation, game promotion and marketing, game testing and fundraising, etc. with the selected game start-ups. Two interns from relevant tertiary institutions had also been assigned to work in each selected game start-up for two months, during which their salaries were fully paid by the GEPS. The interns helped the company conduct thorough testing and ongoing enhancement of its designated game so as to improve the game's quality before it was launched to the market. In addition, each selected game start-up received a marketing subsidy of HK$450,000 to promote its designated game while they were sponsored to participate in the famous Tokyo Game Show 2022.

Four of the selected game start-ups with the best performance under the 3^rd GEPS were further awarded with a certificate of excellence and an additional subsidy of HK$100,000 each to help them enhance the coming promotion of their designated games. The winner list is as follows:

For more details of the 3^rd Hong Kong Game Enhancement and Promotion Scheme, the 12 selected local game start-ups and their designated games, please visit the project's website at: https://www.geps.hk/. 

About Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association (HKDEA)

Established in 1999, the HKDEA is a non-profit organization aiming to promote digital entertainment development in Hong Kong. Its mission points toward the achievement of the following goals - boosting prosperity of the digital entertainment industry by fostering cooperation among local developers; opening up and development of digital market; enhancement of local technology so as to raise the competitiveness of Hong Kong production; promoting communication between digital entertainment industry and related ones such as toys, entertainment and visual games; building a favourable idea for digital entertainment; and protection of intellectual property rights and scrapping counterfeit products. HKDEA's website at www.hkdea.org/.

About Create Hong Kong

Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) in June 2009 to spearhead the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. From 1 July 2022 onwards, it is under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. Its strategic foci are nurturing talent and facilitating start-ups, exploring markets, promoting cross-sectoral and cross-genre collaboration, and promoting Hong Kong as Asia's creative capital and fostering a creative atmosphere in the community. CreateHK has been sponsoring the HKDEA in organizing different projects including the Hong Kong Game Enhancement and Promotion Scheme to facilitate the development of Hong Kong's digital entertainment industry.

CreateHK's website: www.createhk.gov.hk