Portside Game Assembly welcomes indie studios back on board in June 2026: Registration for conference has started

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Portside Game Assembly, the B2B conference for established indie studios, will set sail again through the Hamburg Harbour on June 26, 2026, following its successful premiere.

• Portside Game Assembly returns on June 25 to 26, 2026
• Curated participant list: Interested studios with at least one successfully released game can register now
• First participating studios from seven countries confirmed, including Landfall (PEAK), Eremite Games (Against the Storm) and
• Massive Monster (Cult of the Lamb)

The Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft announces through its Gamecity Hamburg initiative that the second Portside Game Assembly will be held on June 25 and 26, 2026. The conference for established indie studios successfully premiered in June 2025 at various iconic Hamburg locations, including aboard the MS Stubnitz and the MS Princess, cruising the Hamburg Harbour.

The supporting program for the Portside Game Assembly will remain the same: the conference with curated participants on board a ship will be accompanied by a networking brunch beforehand and an industry party afterwards. An optional get-together the day before the conference is also planned. Ticket sales for the brunch and party will start in the first quarter of 2026.

Conference registration started

Registration opens with the announcement of the date of the second Portside Game Assembly. Indie studios who are interested in participating and who have successfully released at least one game can register now and, if confirmed, will receive access to ticket sales. In addition to the regular ticket, a supporter option is available, allowing participating studios to further support the independent nature of the conference.

Link to the registration form: portsideassembly.com/registration

First participating studios announced

These studios are already registered for Portside Game Assembly ’26:

• bippinbits – Dome Keeper & PVKK (DE)
• Brave At Night – Yes, Your Grace (UK)
• ByteRockers’ Games – Beat Slayer (DE)
• Clever Plays – Operation: Tango (CA)
• Eremite Games – Against the Storm (PL)
• Foulball Hangover – Hydroneer (UK)
• Grizzly Games – Thronefall (DE)
• Happy Volcano – Modulus (BE)
• Hutlihut Games – Void Crew (DK)
• kaleidoscube – Recur (DE)
• Landfall – PEAK (SWE)
• Massive Monster – Cult of the Lamb (UK)
• moi rai games – Aethermancer (DE)
• Nosebleed Interactive – Arcade Paradise (UK)
• Overhype Studios – Menace (DE)
• Spellgarden Games – Sticky Business (DE)
• Square Glade Games – Outbound (NL)
• tobspr games – shapez 2 (DE)

The current status of participating studios of Portside Game Assembly ’26 can be found on the official website.

Positive premiere feedback incorporated into further planning

The positive feedback from former participants was also decisive for the continuation of the Portside Game Assembly with its current concept:

Kathrin Radtke (Co-Founder Spellgarden Games): “I had such a great time at the first Portside Game Assembly! It was awesome catching up with old friends, meeting new people, and just enjoying the Hamburg harbour views. I especially loved being able to chat openly about the topics that keep me up at night with other indies that are facing similar challenges.”

René Habermann (Director bippinbits): “It will be a must-go for myself in the future, an absolute no-brainer. Portside Game Assembly felt like a new generation of event, sticking out from all the rest.”

Jeroen Janssen (Studio Head Happy Volcano): “Everyone in the room has been through the same challenges, and that shared experience creates a rare level of openness. Ideas, insights, and best practices were shared freely, and I left with a notebook full of actionable takeaways. Absolutely worth it.”

With a successful premiere to look back on, Dennis Schoubye, head of Gamecity Hamburg, is optimistic about the future of Portside Game Assembly: “The overwhelmingly positive feedback from participating studio directors confirms, that Portside fills a need in the busy B2B event calendar: By curating the participants and focusing on people who run indie studios, we offer a safe space to talk about specific challenges. Portside enables a direct and confidential sharing of experiences, making new contacts with international studios, and unique locations for all events within the Portside Game Assembly.”

The Portside Game Assembly’s talk and roundtable program is all about getting people to interact and is designed for independent, successful game studios.

The following speakers were on board for the first conference in June this year:  

• René Habermann (bippinbits – Dome Keeper),
• Benjamin Laulan (Evil Empire – Dead Cells),
• Christian Nyhus Andreasen (Fair Games – Necesse),
• Søren Lundgaard (Ghost Ship Publishing – Deep Rock Galactic),
• Jonas Tyroller (Grizzly Games – Thronefall),
• Mariève Beauchemin (Indie Asylum),
• Leonie Wolf (Maschinen-Mensch – Curious Expedition 2),
• Manny Hachey (Positive Impact Games – The Regreening),
• Sophie Atkin (Secret Sauce),
• Philomena Schwab (Stray Fawn Studio – Dungeonclawler),
• Mauricio García (The Game Kitchen – Blasphemous),
• Kevin Zuhn (Young Horses – Bugsnax),
• Ali Farha (Star Stable) and Andreas Suika (Independent Developer).

For further information and questions please contact: 

Senta Gohr                                              Anna Jäger

Gamecity Hamburg                                 Gamecity Hamburg

PR Manager                                            PR Manager

T +49 40 23 72 435- 74                          +49 40 23 72 435 – 78

[email protected]      [email protected]

The post Portside Game Assembly welcomes indie studios back on board in June 2026: Registration for conference has started appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.