On January 22nd, we had the pleasure of holding our Imirt AGM for 2026 which was graciously hosted by our friends at TU Dublin. Immediately after the Imirt AGM was the IndieDev Speed Pitch showcase followed by a networking reception at Plunkets on Abbey Street. The event allowed us to discuss all of the amazing work done in 2025, introduce some of our plans for 2026, and highlight the new Imirt team, including our project manager, Leela Collins, and our three new board members, Lauren Morgan, Llaura McGee and Craig Walsh.
Progress In 2025
2025 was another huge year for the Irish game development community. Imirt was able to hire Eoghan Watters full-time and bring on Leela Collins as a part-time project manager. This was all a part of delivering the Screen Ireland Digital Games Portfolio, a first of its kind games funding initiative. Beyond this, we were able to work on Imirt as an organisation, creating better systems for governance and a better balance of work for our volunteer board. The work done in 2025 has set us up to do even more in 2026. We were also able to start new initiatives such as the Games Competency Framework and Elevate, which you’ll see more of in 2026.
Corporate Membership
In 2025 Imirt launched corporate membership to better represent our industry and to allow us to do more for the community. Available in multiple tiers, corporate membership is an opportunity for companies to support Imirt and gain benefits as a member. Corporate Membership is an important initiative to legitimise Imirt and show the government that the industry supports us and supports growth in games.
We’re delighted to say that we already have over twenty companies as corporate members. We’d like to thank them for their support of Imirt as we roll out corporate membership. We will be pushing to grow membership throughout 2026.
Dublin Games Springboard
Imirt launched its first incubator, The Imirt Dublin Games Springboard, in early 2025. Ran by Imirt in association with Screen Ireland and the Guinness Enterprise Centre, the programme took eight game developers and gave them mentorship and workshops to help them evolve their business and development skills. The programme was a huge success, with graduates from the programme going onto release critically acclaimed games, join further programmes like IndieDev, and even join exemplary studios such as Larian.
Press Play on Ireland event at GDC
IMIRT - The Irish Game Makers Association were honoured to contribute to a fantastic event held to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the incredible art that video game makers and composers in Ireland create, hosted at the incredible San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
The event was attended by Imirt CEO Colm Larkin, who took part in the panel; “Press Play on Ireland: A Celebration of Music, Gaming & Storytelling”. The panel was chaired by the Head of Cultural Affairs at the Consulate of General of Ireland in Los Angeles, Siobhra Quinlan. Joining the panel was the extraordinary Irish composer Eimear Noone, and CEO of Ardán Alan Duggan.
The event was followed up by a consulate meeting, where leaders from the industry met with Minister O'Donovan TD to discuss the future of game development and the sector in Ireland.
Imirt Irish Game Awards 2025
The Imirt Irish Game Awards 2025 took place at the Fís Games Summit on the 11th of April. It was a fantastic show and an opportunity to recognise excellence in game making from Irish creators.
Among the winners, Jamie Gavin came away with the Rising Star award, alongside a runner-up in Game of the Year for 2024 and Best Narrative.
Ambertail came away with five awards for their debut game, Amber Isle, including Game of the Year, Game Design and Game Art. In total 21 awards were given out to winners across twelve categories. A full breakdown of the awards can be found here.
Digital Games Portfolio:
Irish Games Fund
As part of the Screen Ireland Digital Games Portfolio, Imirt have had the honour of designing and running the Irish Games Fund, a first of its kind staged development fund for Ireland.
The Irish Games Fund is a staged development fund in order to maximise the use of funding on projects with the highest potential. The fund is judged by external talent from games publishing, allowing the games to be properly judged with no bias and by those who fully understand the market and market conditions. A full breakdown on the progress of the Irish Games fund can be found here.
Digital Games Portfolio:
IndieDev 2025
IndieDev 2025 was a huge part of our day, with the eight IndieDev teams giving their final presentations to our audience. The IndieDev Speed Pitch had the eight teams present their game to our members and a panel of industry experts.
IndieDev 2025 is an initiative managed by Ardán with support from Imirt on behalf of Northern Ireland Screen and Screen Ireland – aimed at supporting indie video game developers based in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Successful teams are supported with funding of up to £15,000 / €15,000 based on programme, mentorship, and team requirements as they work on a game prototype.
Digital Games Portfolio:
the Irish Games talent incubator
The Irish Game Talent Incubator (formerly Imirt Dublin Games Springboard and Wild Galway Games Initiative) aims to develop the creative and entrepreneurial skills that video game developers will require to navigate the professional games industry.
Developed by Imirt and Ardán, with support from CREW and the GEC, The Irish Games Talent Incubator took in 23 participants across Dublin and Galway, who went to bespoke workshops, engaged in networking events and took part in a fantastic closing day event hosted in Portershed in Galway.
Section 481a - The Digital Games Tax Credit
In Budget 2026 the Irish government has announced a number of initiatives related to game development.
Imirt welcomes the addition of post-release development to the Digital Games Tax Credit, effectively recognising that game development continues beyond the first launch of a game, as well as the extension of the scheme to 2031. This is a meaningful and necessary improvement to the credit and we commend the government for taking this first step.
Imirt firmly believes that additional changes remain key before the tax credit can live up to its potential, particularly in terms of being attractive to international companies looking to open game studios in Ireland.
Nexus
The Nexus Games Summit returned to Dublin on October 2nd 2025, presented this time from The Foundry @ Google. This is a landmark event with attendance from the Irish games community all over Ireland, as well as an impressive proportion of international visitors and Irish government officials.
For Imirt initiatives, we were delighted to put on the Imirt X Nexus Games Showcase, where we highlighted some of the best games coming out of the sector including The Séance of Blake Manor from Spooky Doorway and TÖLT from ENIGMA Studio.
Our big event of the day was the Nexus Best Pitch, Presented by Imirt. This event saw eight teams pitch their games to a panel of publishers as if they were pitching the game in a meeting. The panel would then give feedback on their pitches, which gave our audience some incredible insight into what they need to do with their own pitches going forward. The event drew an incredible audience, and we’d to thank all that attended.
The event had some incredible games pitched, such as SZeance from Dreamfeel and Lizard Wizard from Carroll Games. It was, however, a competition, and the winner was the amazing Not Here, Not There with Good Folk Café. We’d to thank all of the teams for their incredible pitches and for making the event really special.
We’d also like to thank our amazing panel of judges. Dave McEvoy from RAID Studios, K.A. Pedersen from Fireshine Games, Jairo Lopes from Xbox and Leela Collins from Imirt and Banshee Games. We really appreciate all of the time and effort they put into the event.
Digital Games Forum
Imirt had the pleasure of collaborating with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Ardán on an incredible event “The Digital Games Forum” led by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and driven by Minister Patrick O'Donovan TD and The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.
Held in Farmleigh House & Estate, the Forum brought together leaders in both government and the games sector to discuss the national strategy for games. The event included panels, roundtable discussions, and key remarks from Screen Ireland, Imirt and the Minister. The event opened with statements by Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive at Screen Ireland, and Imirt CEO Colm Larkin.
Minister O'Donovan delivered an address to the room, emphasising the government's commitment to the games sector in Ireland. We thank Minister O’Donovan and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland for taking the initiative on this wonderful event, and the passion and support of the Minister was evident in his address. He highlighted the recent changes to Section 481A, The Digital Games Tax Credit, alongside funding advancements and Ireland’s commitment to growing the sector through bespoke activities.
We look forward to working with all of the agencies and departments in attendance across 2026 to deliver on the obvious potential for games in Ireland.
Games Competency Framework
In collaboration with Screen Ireland, Imirt has launched the Digital Games Competency Framework. This piece of work is essential to the long-term success of the sector.
The rapid growth of the Irish Digital Games Industry requires a clear strategy for training, recruiting, retaining, and developing skilled professionals. A well-structured and clearly defined Competency Framework is essential to achieve this shared objective among all industry stakeholders.
The purpose of this work is to research and develop a Competency Framework for the Irish Digital Games Industry, including job role task analysis and career mapping.
If you want to learn more and get involved, check out the post here.
Critical Skills List
The Critical Skills List, which is a set of roles that are essential to economic growth and are in short supply in Ireland, was opened for submissions in September. Imirt submitted a total of 19 roles within games to the critical skills list, which if approved, would allow employers to use the critical skills employment permit to attract people in these roles from the international community.
These are highly specialised roles that are essential to FDI, and this piece of work will prove to be immensely important as we move into the future.
National and International Events
Imirt has been engaging with events at a national and international level. We’ve been delighted to attend and engage with events like Gamerfest, Nexus, Fís Games Summit, Dublin Comic-Con and Run for the Border. Supporting national events is a priority for Imirt and we look forward to supporting more in the future.
Irish games representation at international level is also evolving. The Press Play event at GDC was a huge success, but Imirt was also engaging with international events such as Gamescom and Develop: Brighton. Imirt was able to run an Irish networking event at Develop: Brighton, which was a fantastic evening. Gamescom was a fantastic opportunity to meet other leaders from the European Games Industry and continue growing Ireland's presence internationally.
Other Initiatives
Last year, Imirt became a member of the EGDF (European Game Developer Federation). This move is essential to the overall development of the relationship between the Irish Games Sector and our colleagues across Europe.
Imirt has also been involved in DIGRA 2026. Imirt Board Member, Robert Emerson, has joined the DIGRA organising committee and is currently looking for sponsorships and a call for exhibition and workshops, which has a deadline of February 15th.
These are just some of the programmes and initiatives that IMIRT have run through 2025.
Plans for 2026 and beyond
Following 2025, Imirt holds the same core objectives, dedicated to carefully growing the Irish games sector through high-impact initiatives. Our core goals remain:
to grow our indigenous development community
to develop a world class games ecosystem in Ireland
to promote Irish games at both a national and international level.
Imirt Irish Game Awards 2026
The Imirt Irish Game Awards return for 2026 to celebrate the best of Irish Games from 2025!
This year, we have the joy of introducing two new categories, best student game and best experimental game.
Teams should nominate themselves for awards, and can put forward multiple games in multiple categories as appropriate. Submissions open 22nd of Jan and close on Mon 9th of February at midnight. Judging will follow and an awards ceremony will be announced after that.
You can learn more about the Imirt Irish Game Awards 2026 here.
Digital Games Portfolio:
Irish Games Fund Stage 2 & 3
Stage One of the fund recently wrapped, with all six teams hitting their milestones. We’re delighted to announce that following the successful stage one, three teams have advanced to Stage Two of the fund. These teams are;
Outlier
ENIGMA Studio
Dreamfeel
You can read more about the Irish Games Fund Stage Two teams here.
Elevate Programme
We’re delighted to say that our new business development programme, ELEVATE, run in conjunction with CREW and supported by the Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Stakeholders Fund, will be starting on February 4th. ELEVATE will be running weekly, with workshops taking place on Wednesdays from 11am - 1pm. ELEVATE is a 12-week programme.
Irish Games Census
In 2024, Imirt undertook some research and the size and scale of the video games industry in Ireland. This research told us that we had around 100 companies in the sector and around 2,400 people employed in games in Ireland.
In 2026, we’d like to take on this project again, getting figures for the games industry as of December 31st 2025. The goal here is to continue to have an overview of the size, scale, and companies present in Ireland. This data is incredibly important for promoting the Irish industry internationally, alongside domestic advocacy in regard to funding and tax credits.
This time, we need to get data on financial figures alongside the data on size and scale. This will strengthen our understanding of the power of Irish games and help us in lobbying with national and international bodies for the sector.
Section 481a Review
Imirt continues to work on a series of improvements to Section 481a (Digital Games Relief). Our working group will have its first meeting of the year very soon to represent the industry and put forward improvements to the tax credit.
National and International Events
Imirt are delighted to be attending and supporting a huge number of the events happening nationally in Ireland. Just in Q1, there’s the Leadership Day, Global Game Jam, Games Fleadh at TUS Thurles, Crack the Code with Black Shamrock and Dublin Comic-Con.
Q2 begins with the Fís Games Summit, which we’re delighted to say we’ll be supporting. More information to come on that soon.
Internationally, we look forward to Develop: Brighton and Gamescom, where we hope to celebrate the strength of the Irish Games Industry with our friends in the UK and across the EU
Irish Steam Sale
Imirt are delighted to announce the Irish Games Steam Event (Working Title). This event will run from March 13th - March 20th. This means the event will run alongside St. Patrick's Day.
Additional details about this event will be communicated very soon, so keep an eye on Imirt’s social media for additional information. Make sure to let us know about any games or teams that may be interested in taking part.
Q&A
Q: Will the Irish Games Census cover salary information?
A: The Irish Games Census will not cover salary information for 2025, but we look forward to expanding the research in the coming years.
Q: How many studios and employees currently exist within Ireland?
A: 100+ Studios and 2,400 Employees. 11% Year-On-Year.
Q: In regard to the Irish Games Steam Event, what are the plans in terms of marketing and promotion?
A: We’re going to have takeover videos, gameplay videos, engagement with content creators both national and international, alongside journalists for a big push in the lead up to the event.
We’ll have bespoke artwork commissioned for the event.
Q: Will the Games Competency Framework include a framework for continued professional development/ studios or is this geared at people currently in legislation?
A: Yes. It’s aimed towards the industry at large.
Q: Does Imirt have plans to hire any more staff?
A: We are dependent on our funding to expand. We would like to have more staff in place to increase the different initiatives we’re taking on. We’re looking for funding both nationally and at an EU level. Corporate Membership is another avenue for this.
Q: What kind of initiatives can Imirt members volunteer for?
A: A great example of Imirt members volunteering is the work Craig Breathnach has done with the Imirt Steam Curator list. We encourage members to reach out with anything they want to do, to see if we can help or amplify this idea. We also encourage members to engage with us at events. Keep an eye on the Discord for additional information on volunteering.
Q: Are there any plans to support developers pitching, or to have a country booth at Gamescom 2026?
A: The goal remains to be the development of an Ireland booth at Gamescom. We are working on this, and engaging with government agencies to make it happen. This is unfortunately unlikely to happen this year. We absolutely recognise the need for this space for Irish developers to have a base of operations. This will likely be a multi-year approach, and involve both industry and government investment in both effort and funding.
Q: Have the board considered moving from discord should its relationship with consumers worsen?
A: Yes, we have acknowledged this as staff and are keeping a close eye on whats happening with Discord. The primary platform used by the Irish Games Community has changed on multiple occasions, and we will work to keep the community intact in any scenario.
We encourage members to subscribe to the Newsletter.
Q: Would Imirt consider partnering with a larger studio in order to make the Gamescom stand happen?
A: We’re certainly open to it, but we would need to discuss the exact nature of it.
Q: Are there any plans for Imirt to support Tabletop games further.
A: Imirt has always recognised analog games, but we’re aware there’s been no direct supports. We’re very proud to recognise analog games with the Imirt awards, but scale is an issue for setting up stronger supports. We’d like to note that analog games are included in events like Dublin Comic-Con.