TWIRLBOUND (MATTHIJS VAN DE LAAR)
Twirlbound is a game development company based in Breda, known for their lively, vibrant worlds in which action and adventure lurk around every corner.
In this talk, Matthijs gives a bird’s-eye view and takeaways of the many different funding routes taken by Twirlbound to get their game projects off the ground in the past decade.
Funding the Fun: A Plea for Creative Business Development
In this talk, Matthijs gives a bird’s-eye view and takeaways of the many different funding routes taken by Twirlbound to get their game projects off the ground in the past decade. They have touched upon everything from subsidies to crowdfunding to publishing deals and equity investment deals, each with their pros and cons. The talk explores how creative direction of projects and the funding options that allow them to exist are closely related.
While studying Game Design and Production at BUas, which Matthijs graduated from in 2016, he co-founded Twirlbound in the second year, trying to hit the ground running with their graduation project Pine which turned into a successful commercial release in 2019. After that, the studio started on The Knightling, a new exciting open world action adventure game that launched in 2025.
As CEO and creative director at Twirlbound, Matthijs directs the ambitious open world action adventure games the studio puts out and helps to shape the business around them. His favorite part of making games is their narrative and writing, which Matthijs occupies himself with daily for Twirlbound’s games.
