Good news everybody! The UK’s game development sector, which has often lacked access to public funding for projects and concepts, can now take advantage of the new Video Games Prototype Fund, which launched today.
The fund will allocate £4,000,000 via £25,000 grants over the next four years to small, independent studios, to enable developers to create initial game prototypes and allow them to seek further levels of funding to take the game to market.
Alongside the actual funding, the grants also include access to mentoring and skills management to ensure developers have access to expertise and business knowledge.
The fund will be managed by the UK Games Talent and Finance CIC (Community Interest Company) which has been created to help develop the UK’s game development sector.
Jo Twist, the CEO of UKIE, told us:
We lobbied for this kind of support and we are pleased to see the Fund launch. It has enormous potential for the future of the UK games industry. Access to finance has been an on-going challenge for small and micro games businesses, and the financial support of the fund, as well as the mentoring opportunities that are provided, will open doors to a huge amount of unearthed games talent in the UK. Ukie is really proud to continue to support this project. It is one more step towards the UK becoming a world leader in games development.
You can find out more about the fund and how to apply on the UK Games Talent & Finance website.