'Any developer, anywhere, and in any language, deserves access to funding structures and opportunities to make great games.'
Global developer conference Gamedev.world plans to launch a new fund to help developers in emergent territories flesh out their pre-production and prototype stage projects.
The Global Games Fund will launch later this year and offer up to $50,000 in funding to developers outside the Western world. Fundees will also receive additional support in the form of access to industry-leading mentors and sessions covering all aspects of pre-production and development.
"Like access to knowledge, funding is not fairly distributed around the world, across languages, and across cultures. Living in the West, speaking English, and making games based on Western culture and mythology gives developers structural advantages in attracting publisher funding and investment," reads an explainer.
"The Global Games Fund focuses on developers outside of the Western world, and allows developers to communicate & pitch their titles in Arabic, English, Spanish, French, Hindi, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, or Simplified Chinese."
Gamedev.world said the Global Games Fund will help developers who can't attend "high-expense, inaccessible, and deeply restrictive" events access vital funding structures that could ensure their survival in an increasingly tumultuous industry.
"Events offer more than just knowledge. As networking spaces, events offer developers access to investors, publishers, funds, and grants–necessities for many viable paths to participation in the modern games industry. Developers from around the world are often dependent for their survival on their ability to visit expensive and visa-limited international events to access early-stage funding opportunities," continues the post.
"We believe that's unfair: any developer, anywhere, and in any language, deserves access to funding structures and opportunities to make great games."
The Global Games Fund will be available to developers in any "covered territory," which means "any developer that has grown up in, or is operating in a country outside of North-Western Europe, Canada, the continental United States, Australia, or New Zealand."
It will offer eligible developers funding in the range of $5,000 to $50,000 (USD) based on minimum deliverables such as a prototype with art mockups or a vertical slice with an implemented art-style, and a "clear production plan" including a budget and production timeline.
Funding will then be handed out either directly or in agreed-upon milestones. The Global Game Fund allows for three ways of recoup:
A one-time 300 percent buy-out at time of signing any funding deal.
A one time 100 percent buy-out at time of signing any funding deal, with a reduced revenue share against developer revenue no higher than 30 percent–with a maximum 500 percent of the initial investment.
A high-percentage revenue share against developer revenue no higher than 50 percent until recoup, and a revenue share against developer revenue no higher than 30 percent after recoup.
Mentorship will be fully arranged by the Global Games Fund and will cover topics such as creative direction, publishing, marketing, production, and design. "Mentorship is optional and not required, but a developers' willingness to participate in mentorship the Global Games Fund sees as relevant to the title’s success is used as part of the risk-assessment process for funding," notes the announcement.
The Global Games Fund is looking to collaborate with publishers, platforms, and investors to realize its vision of creating new opportunities for emergent developers, and is also keen to speak to developers who'd be interested in supporting the initiative as a mentor.
Those eager to learn more should visit the Global Games Fund website for more details.
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