Film Victoria Accepting Applications For Game Funding In Australia

Film Victoria, an Australian group offering assistance to Victorian TV, film and digital media creators, this week announced the Game Investment program, offering up to AUS$100,000 per project. The announcement of the Game Investment program comes as Australian studios such as Transmission Games and Krome are being hit with layoffs and closures. Victorian Minister for Innovation Gavin Jennings is backing the initiative, which is "designed to support the local games sector," according to a press statement. Projects eligible for the funding are full games for distribution on any platform. Funds can also be used for prototypes to pitch games to distributors and publishers. The program is limited to game makers based in the Australian state of Victoria. Jennings offered, "We are focused on stimulating the development of world-class digital content and enabling some of Victoria’s smaller studios to compete in this lucrative global marketplace." The program intends to support development of a "diverse range" of games for any platform, placing an emphasis on "technical, creative or design innovation." Game Investment is looking for projects "of better quality" that can attract further investment and reach an identifiable audience -- in other words, the games should be marketable with the intent to sell directly to consumers. Film Victoria also said that its funding can be used for no more than half of a game's development. "Funding from Games Investment will enable our digital media practitioners to take advantage of the ever-growing opportunities present for downloadable and online games, specifically accessing the higher revenues, audience numbers and IP retention associated with these high growth platforms," said Sandra Sdraulig, CEO of Film Victoria. The first round of applications is due October 29. More information on guidelines can be found at at the official Film Victoria website.