January the 14th, 2022 - Novska is having a complete and utter turnaround, becoming the Novska gaming campus which has just recently been put into function, as have new student dorms.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, it has been less than two years since Novska's former INA building was transferred to the portfolio of that city, which is rapidly positioning itself as the centre of the gaming industry in Croatia. The new building has been put into a new function by being transformed into new student dorms.

This has been a joint project of the City of Novska, Sisak-Moslavina County and the Croatian Government, which was officially opened this week by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who made sure to emphasise that this is just one project which is transforming Novska into the country's gaming centre as the industry of the future.

Two business incubators are playing host to more than 60 companies specialising in video games, while over 50 percent of the companies engaged in the gaming industry are registered in Novska where young people just keep on coming, which is the nucleus of development and new positioning of the city and the wider county.

In the specific case of the second student dormitory in this county, the education department has a prominent role, which verified a new subject for Novska's students - training to become technicians for video game development, resulting in the need to open the aforementioned student dormitory.

More than half of the students enrolled in this subject of study come from outside of the area, and 21 students will be the new tenants of the new building. According to Prefect Ivan Celjan, there is a recognition of the education and needs of today's students, but also the efforts of parents who are trying to achieve better conditions for their children. Owing to the deep understanding of the above, the student dorms will be fully funded, which means they'll be free of charge for end users.

The new dorms will house students from all over Croatia from Zagreb, Dugo Selo, Bjelovar, Kutinska Lipa, Stari Petrovo Selo, Kumrovec, Bektez, Koprivnica, Vodnjan and beyond, while the interest in the new field of study is unsurprisingly huge given the popularity of video games and the Novska gaming campus.

The Croatian Government has raised subsidies for entrepreneurs to the maximum (within the programme of the reconstruction and revitalisation of the local economy after a series of catastrophic earthquakes at the end of 2020) and this concept is being carried out in cooperation with the CES, being considered a magnet for young people who will come to Novska and hopefully decide to stay following their studies.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

January the 4th, 2022 - The new Novska gaming campus is the first of its kind in all of Europe, and given that it is located in this often wrongly overlooked part of the country, things can't get moving quickly enough.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, the construction of the Pismo video game industry campus in Novska worth 375.5 million kuna, the first gaming campus in Europe, is a strategic project and a prominent component of the programme of social and economic revitalisation of the areas of Sisak-Moslavina County being assisted post-earthquake, with expected rapid realisation.

The new Novska gaming campus will be constructed on an area spanning eight hectares in the Novljan business zone, and the company that will prepare all the project documentation has already been selected.

''The completion of everything regarding the documentation is expected by May the 1st, 2022, followed by a tender for construction. The decision to include this project in the Revitalisation Programme is a sign of the great level of recognition of the work done so far across Sisak-Moslavina County and Novska,'' said Mario Celan, the director of the Simora Development Agency, which manages the Pismo Business Incubator.

According to Celan, 67 newly opened companies generate about a hundred jobs, while on the Novska gaming campus alone, they expect to open up 80 employment opportunities and attract a minimum of 250 startups, as well as numerous investments from abroad.

A few years ago, he explained, they took the opportunity to develop the video game industry in this particular county, as it is a new and modern industry that is constantly growing, which was the reason for them to head in that direction, and "2 percent of the Revitalisation Programme will be invested in developing competitiveness in the best way possible,'' according to him.

There will also be an eSport arena

The new Novska gaming campus will also include the construction of facilities related to the opening of studios, student dormitories, the Business Incubator for the eSport arena with 4,000 seats and the Accelerator of the gaming industry. There are also extensive plans to have a five-year higher education programme with 50 students per year and a high school programme and accompanying classes with 24 students per year.

For more, check out our dedicated business section.