The Dutch Game Garden, a hub for the Dutch computer games industry in Utrecht, is closing down at the end of this year, following a change in the subsidy set up.

The decision means the Netherlands is losing a “pillar” of the games industry, Martine Spaans, director of the Dutch Games Association told news agency ANP. “The DGG was the first place that people starting a studio would come to. It was home to a wealth of expertise.”

The province funded the DGG but has changed the conditions attached to its subsidies and the DGG said it could not work within the new set-up. “Unfortunately, we have been forced to close our doors,” said chairman Peter Laanen. “But we can look back with pride at all we have achieved in the past 17 years.”

Some 4,500 people work in the Dutch games industry and 130 companies have gone through the DGG’s incubator programme since its inception in 2008.

Several of the companies which started out under the DGG umbrella have broken through internationally, such as Abbey Games, Ronimo Games and Vlambeer. As well as entertainment games, DGG companies were involved in educational and medical gaming.

According to the NRC, the DGG was given €700,000 by the city council and €250,000 by the province last year. The DGG did not say how much cash it was losing but did say it could not put together a responsible budget.