It’s Melbourne International Games Week (MIGW), which means the local Aussie game development industry is currently all coming together in sunny Melbourne to celebrate our incredible talent and look toward the future, particularly in how we continue to grow and support development in Australia.
One early bit of excitement has come by way of Screen Australia announcing a new three-pronged approach to funding game development in Australia, at GCAP 2023. Screen Australia’s website has the full write-up on what’s new and available in games development funding over the next few years which you can read in full here, but the gist is as follows.
First up, Screen Australia’s Games: Expansion Pack fund, which we’ve reported on in the past and has helped to fund projects like We Have Always Lived In The Forest’s darkwebSTREAMER and Witch Beam’s Tempopo, has been replaced with the Games Production Fund. The redesigned fund will seemingly allow for more flexibility and a targeted approach with studios able to apply for funds for any part of the development process including the logistics of shipping the game or driving investment – with teams able to apply for up to $100,000.
Applications for the first round of the Games Production Fund are now open and will close at 5pm AEDT on Thursday 30 November 2023.
Pleased to announce three new funding opportunities for Australian independent gamemakers! ?https://t.co/S3HdzJ0Ula
— ScreenAustralia (@ScreenAustralia) October 2, 2023
Second is the Emerging Gamemakers Fund, which is a smaller $30,000 funding packet that’s intended to help studios build a prototype of their game (or fund a micro-scale project). It’s aimed at encouraging experimentation and diverse voices, with less barriers for emerging creators to apply than larger funds like the Games Production Fund.
Applications for the first round of the Emerging Gamemakers Fund are now open and will close at 5pm AEDT on Thursday 30 November 2023.
Lastly, the Future Leaders Delegation is a fund designed to involve more folks from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds in events like Game Developers Conference (GDC), that would otherwise be fairly inaccessible. This year’s fund will provide up to $8,000 for five developers to attend GDC 2024 including flying them to San Francisco for the event and involving them in workshops in Melbourne prior to the event.
Applications for the Future Leaders Delegation are now open and will close at 5pm AEDT on Thursday 9 November 2023.
If you’re keen on learning more about any of these funds, including application requirements and deadlines, check out the full report on the Screen Australia website here.
