New innovative video game developers will see their drawing board dreams take a step closer to reality as Culture and the Digital Economy Minister Matt Hancock announced the third round of winners of the UK Games Fund at the launch of the London Games Festival.
Fifteen projects including mobile, PC, console and VR games across the UK have been selected in the third round of funding and will now receive grants to develop their prototypes. Recognising that many small businesses lack the capital to help develop their ideas and attract private investment, the Fund invites businesses to apply for grants to take current projects and make them into working prototype games.
Aimed at helping creative young businesses get concepts off the drawing board and into production, the £4 million UK Games fund was set up to further growth, nurture talent and provide additional support to the sector which is recognised globally for its creativity and skill.
Minister of State for Digital and Culture Matt Hancock said:
I am proud of our global reputation for excellence in games development and hope this cash boost helps these projects become the leading games of tomorrow.
Video games, and the wider creative industries, are at the heart of our work on developing a new industrial strategy, and we will continue to do all we can to help build on the success of the sector and promote it as a major economic and cultural force.
To date, the UK Games Fund has awarded 55 grants, with many of these supported projects going on to secure further funding, creative development and publishing opportunities as a result of this investment. Now worth £87 billion to the economy, the creative industries are one of the UK’s greatest success stories. The Fund forms part of a package of measures government has introduced to boost working capital for the sector including the UK’s video games tax relief which supports home-grown studios and attracts inward investment.
The newly published Digital Strategy highlights how the UK Games Fund helps create the right conditions for the UK games development industry as part of the government’s plan to ensure that the benefits of digital are felt by every business and individual across the country.
Paul Durrant, Managing Director, UK Games Talent and Finance CIC said:
Interest in the UK Games Fund has continued at exceptionally high level, reflecting the potential of this sector to continue to contribute to future economic growth. This broad regional spread of talent shows how young games development businesses continue to have potential contribute to productivity increases across the UK.
Third round winners subject to final due diligence and contract include:
- Fourth State Ltd (Ipswich)
- Stormcloud Games Limited (Dundee)
- Bitmap Bureau Ltd, (Southampton)
- Robot House Games Ltd (Waterlooville)
- Quite Fresh Ltd (Brighton)
- Dumpling Design Ltd (Sheffield)
- Crash Lab Ltd (Nottingham)
- Third Kind Games Limited (Leamington Spa)
- Lost Forest Games Ltd (Horsham)
- Rogue Sun Ltd (Guildford)
- Biome Collective (Dundee)
- Vorpal Games Ltd (Manchester)
- The Chinese Room (Brighton)
- Ruffian Games Ltd (Dundee).
The UK Games Fund is managed by UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company. Businesses can apply for the fourth round of funding later this year.
Read Matt Hancock’s speech at the London Games Festival
In October 2015 Government launched the £4 million UK Games Fund to help boost the development of the UK’s video games sector. Key features of the Fund include:
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Grants of up to £25,000 to help new and young games development businesses create working prototype games.
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Talent development initiatives – this includes competitions for students and graduate teams to create and showcase new games, and mentoring for businesses and individuals.
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The Fund has received more than 500 applications from young businesses since the initiative launched in 2015.
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