NYU Tandon's Game Design Future Lab Receives Medal.tv Gift for Startup Support

A gift from Medal.tv will send the Game Design Future Lab's inaugural cohort of startups to the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco and provide expanded operational support for the newly launched incubator at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

The contribution enables participating companies to maximize opportunities at GDC — the gaming industry's premier conference taking place March 9-13—where they can showcase their work and connect with venture capitalists and industry leaders.

Based in New York City, Medal is the fastest way to clip, save, and share PC gameplay, and the platform where more than 15 million friends share gaming moments and discover new games every month. Its support comes at a critical time as the GDFL solidifies its programming and prepares its first cohort for broader industry engagement.

A partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the GDFL provides a one-year, equity-free incubation program designed to help digital gaming startups build sustainable businesses in New York City. The inaugural cohort started in October 2025 and includes companies at various stages, from solo founders building development platforms to established studios with 20+ employees working on commercial releases.

Mitu Khandaker, GDFL's Associate Director and NYU Game Center professor, emphasized the importance of industry connections for emerging studios. "As someone whose own career has been undeniably shaped by attending GDC since 2008, I know first hand how transformative it can be, and how many opportunities and connections it can give rise to that can otherwise be out of reach. I’m thrilled that our inaugural GDFL cohort can experience that all important blend of strategy and serendipity that GDC can offer. Thanks to Medal’s sponsorship, we're also co-hosting an exclusive event at GDC to showcase New York City's vibrant games ecosystem and connect our cohort directly with investors and publishers. It’s exactly the kind of targeted exposure that can accelerate these companies' growth.”  

The GDFL’s inaugural cohort includes CYBRLICH Studios, Made in Brooklyn Games, Munity Games, Remixing Reality, and Sapient Technology. Each receives guidance from mentors and advisory board members, dedicated workspace on NYU Tandon’s Brooklyn campus, access to NYU Tandon engineering faculty expertise, and support in accessing New York State's Digital Game Development Program tax credit of 25 to 35 percent.

Linda Ng Boyle, NYU Tandon Vice Dean for Research, highlighted the importance of corporate partnerships in supporting entrepreneurship. "Industry partnerships are critical to NYU Tandon’s entrepreneurial mission of helping promising young ventures in bringing their new technologies to market and growing their businesses. Medal.tv’s support will provide GDFL companies with invaluable exposure to the broader gaming industry and help advance New York City as a premier destination for game development."

"Everyone here at Medal loves games,” said Ken Colton, CEO of Medal. “We grew up with them, connect through them, and get to be ourselves in their worlds. The Game Design Future Lab is helping nurture the next generation of game makers. We’re excited to support such a talented group of developers and to give back to the NYC game dev scene. We can't wait to play their games!”

The GDFL is part of the NYU Tandon Future Labs network, which has supported more than 428 startups that collectively raised over $4.6 billion and created 9,510 jobs, with a 93 percent success rate. The GDFL launched amid rapid expansion in New York City's digital gaming ecosystem. According to data from NYCEDC, the industry’s economic impact in recent years increased 30 percent to $2.6 billion annually, with jobs rising 4 percent to 7,900, and the number of game development studios nearly doubling, up 90 percent to 380 citywide.