The German city of Hamburg has established a new €2 million ($2.2 million) funding initiative to help support its local games industry. 

The cash will initially be made available from 2020 to 2023, with the city planning on dishing out €520,000 ($580,000) per year over that four year period. 

That annual funding pool will take the form of non-repayable grants of up to €80,000 ($89,000) that can be used to finance prototype projects. A total of €400,000 ($440,000) per year will be made available to fund those prototypes. 

The other €120,000 ($130,000) will be used to establish and run an incubator program designed to prepare developers for the challenges of the games industry. The incubator will support up to five teams over three month period with mentoring, workshops, work stations, and financial assistance. 

Local industry group gamecity:Hamburg will be responsible for handling the new funding program, and says the initiative will help support game developers on several levels. 

"With the introduction of the new prototype funding in combination with an incubator, we can support game developers on several levels and for this, we will activate the strong network of successful game studios in Hamburg," said Dennis Schoubye, project lead at gamecity:Hamburg.

"The incubator is just one format in our overall strategy to promote the knowledge exchange between companies and young talents in Hamburg. With the incubator, we aim to provide active and tailor-made support to young teams of developers in the development of concepts with high market potential."

You can find out more about the initiative on the gamecity:Hamburg website.