Australia's Film Victoria Hands Out $210k In Prototype Funding

Film Victoria, a governmental agency of Victoria, Australia, has awarded a total of AU$240,000 (US$210,618) to four Victorian development studios and individual game makers to produce prototypes for online and downloadable games. The organization aims to promote and support local media development, including games. In addition to its main game program, it operates a Downloadable Game Initiative aimed at developers focused on online distribution. Of this round of funding, individual developer Andre Spierings was granted AU$147,800 (US$127,344) for his Facebook game Bunni Social, and AU$96,650 (US$83,274) was distributed among Touch My Pixel for Deadsun, Tin Man Games for Gamebook Adventures, and Khrob Edmonds for Incoming. "We believe this development funding will enable some of Victoria's smaller studios to compete in this lucrative global marketplace," said Film Victoria CEO Sandra Sdraulig, according to GamesIndustry.biz. "Victoria is at the forefront of game content prototyping, and continues to strengthen as a hub of creative and talent," she added. Touch My Pixel previously received Film Victoria funding for Scarygirl, which the studio described as "our first major game."