Abstract. Start-ups and game development are trending topics. There are established methods for both, but these are not suitable as such for starting game companies developing their first commercial game product. In this paper, a design for a series of accelerator programs, targeted for the first-time game developers, and an accompanying research approach are discussed. The goal of the approach is to combine quality research with relevant, imminent results, which help game start-ups to raise the success probability and lower the investors’ risks. Initial ideas of the accelerator design are presented to activate discussion with other researchers and practitioners planning or doing similar experiments.