Hungary is backing a domestic game developer’s R&D project for the first time, while two fresh entries in an EU-related project database outline what NeocoreGames appears to be building next: Van Helsing: Inkheart and Broken Sea.
Hungary’s game industry received a rare kind of headline on Friday: Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, announced that the government is providing direct support to a Hungarian video game developer’s research-and-development project for the first time. He described the move as unprecedented since the current investment-incentive framework was launched 11 years ago – and when the word video games is suddenly paired with official state funding, it usually comes wrapped in a big label, bigger expectations, and a very specific number.
Under the decision, the government will contribute HUF 1.5 billion to a HUF 4.5 billion project run by Neocore Games Development Kft.. Szijjártó said the investment is expected to create several new, high value-added jobs in Budapest, and he portrayed NeocoreGames as internationally competitive, bringing new technologies and storytelling approaches into modern games. In the political framing, the end goal is the first “purely Hungarian” AAA-category title – a phrase that sounds definitive, even when the only truly definitive part is that the hardest questions remain the same: what exactly is it, and when will it exist?
The timing is notable because, in parallel, two entries have appeared on a portal that tracks various EU-supported projects, and both appear linked to NeocoreGames’ upcoming work. The Budapest studio has recently been most visible through its revived King Arthur titles, but the new paper trail suggests two additional projects are already deep enough to have concrete production details attached to them. It is also plausible that the newly announced domestic R&D support and the EU-facing project activity will overlap in terms of technology, staffing, or pipeline – even if the public story is still being assembled.
One of the surfaced projects is Van Helsing: Inkheart. According to the official description, it is a single-player action-adventure set in Borgovia, within the universe established by The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and Deathtrap. The entry strongly suggests Unreal Engine is in play, with a heavier emphasis on narrative delivery than the studio’s recent output. It references a team of roughly 21 developers, targeting PC, and it frames multiple mechanics as already established for production, including character progression and other core systems, alongside the promise of spectacle-driven boss fights. The same description indicates the studio has outlined the next chapter of its Van Helsing world, positioning Inkheart as a structured spin-off rather than a disconnected detour.
The second project is not Van Helsing at all, but Broken Sea, set in another original fantasy setting. The description points to a party-based experience built around tactical combat and a story-driven campaign – broadly consistent with the studio’s strengths in the King Arthur lineage. Here, the entry suggests NeocoreGames is working with its own in-house engine, and it highlights early work on story research and atmosphere as a deliberate development pillar, rather than an afterthought.
On scale alone, Broken Sea reads like the bigger swing: the entry references a team of around 65 people. It claims the studio has already laid the foundations of the underlying universe, set the narrative direction, and built out internal history and religious background for the setting. The same description emphasizes hero-centric progression, mission structure, and branching dialogue options that allow player choices to steer the campaign. It also states that a playable build exists, demonstrating the central gameplay loop, while the studio’s toolchain for building levels, missions, units, conversations, and cutscenes is described as ready for full production.
Put together, the picture is more layered than a single announcement: there is a government-backed “purely Hungarian” AAA promise, and there are two concrete, documentable projects sitting in the public record. The critical unknown is how these threads connect. The supported AAA effort could align with one of the surfaced titles, or it could be a third project still kept off the radar. What is clear is that NeocoreGames appears to be moving on multiple fronts at once – and it did not arrive at the HUF 1.5 billion headline empty-handed.
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