PRESS RELEASE : Multi-million pound funding boost for home-grown video game developers [April 2024]

The press release issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 17 April 2024.

More than £3 million of government funding has been awarded to emerging video game developers and start-up studios to help them scale their businesses and create the next British gaming hits.

• 22 rising star video game studios receive awards from UK Games Fund
• £3 million worth of grants to help companies get games in development ready for market
• Funding awarded as part of government plans to grow creative industries by £50bn by 2030

Grants of up to £150,000 from the UK Games Fund (UKGF) will help 22 high-potential games companies hire more staff, secure publishing deals and unlock more private investment.

The funding has been awarded to companies across the UK including GLITCHERS, a Bafta-nominated studio that has used video games to teach children about money and help scientists fight dementia. Their grant will help them develop The Last Eden – a first-person game set in the rainforests of the Congo Basin where players can track wildlife guided by real-world experts.

Meanwhile Triangular Pixels, another Bafta-nominated studio known for their innovative virtual reality technology, will use their Content Fund grant to develop Unseen Diplomacy 2 – a VR spy game where players can turn their living rooms into real-life assault courses.

As part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision launched last year, the government invested an extra £5 million in the UKGF to establish a new Content Fund – focused on getting UK games in development ready for market – taking total government investment in the UKGF between 2022 and 2025 to £13.4 million.

In 2023 the UK video game consumer market was worth £7.8 billion*, more than doubling its value since 2013. Some of the world’s best-selling video games have been made in the UK, including Tomb Raider, the Grand Theft Auto series, Little Big Planet and Lego: Star Wars.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer attended the London Games Festival’s Game Changer event at Carlton House Terrace in Central London today (Wednesday 17th) where she met with Content Fund winners. She saw first-hand the games that their grants will help them to develop and heard how the money will support them to expand their businesses.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said:

Video games are a vital part of this government’s plans to grow the creative industries by £50 billion by 2030. That’s why we are supporting talented new developers to maximise their potential and turn their ideas into the next best-selling, Bafta-winning titles.

This funding will help them to secure investment and resources to scale up their businesses and create new jobs. Congratulations to all the recipients.

The Content Fund provides UK games studios with grants of £50,000 to £150,000 to support the development of intellectual property, allowing them to attract more investment. Investing in video games at this crucial development stage will help UK studios grow their businesses and create more jobs, and in turn grow the economy, which is one of the Government’s five key priorities.

Maxwell Scott-Slade, Director of Games, GLITCHERS:

Earning recognition from the UK Games Fund for The Last Eden is a tremendous honour. This award empowers us to expand beyond dementia awareness (with projects like Sea Hero Quest) and delve into the captivating world of biodiversity. The Content Fund’s support allows us to make three crucial hires, which will significantly strengthen our position when negotiating with key partners.

Katie Goode, Creative Director, Triangular Pixels:

We’re immensely grateful for the incredible support that has allowed Unseen Diplomacy 2 to become a reality. As a British studio, it’s particularly exciting to see the continued investment in our homegrown games industry. This funding fuels our passion to bring this innovative VR spy experience to life, and we can’t wait to share more updates as development progresses.

Paul Durrant OBE, CEO and Founder, UK Games Talent and Finance CIC, said:

This growth-focussed funding has given us the opportunity to support companies further on in the journey than we’ve done before. Our focus on larger-scale grants, linked to unlocking additional leverage, adds a significant layer to the UK’s early-stage games development ecosystem. The grants will accelerate these studios towards success more rapidly than otherwise possible.

Since 2015 the UKGF has invested over £12 million to help more than 450 developers and studios create their own video games. Previously funded companies include Coatsink, Futurlab and Roll7, whose title Rollerdrome won the Bafta for Best British Game last year.

Alongside the Content Fund, UKGF continues to award grants of up to £30,000 to upcoming video game developers and early-stage studios to help them turn their drawing board ideas into working prototype games and showcase these to investors. UKGF also supports graduate talent development through its DunDev and Tranzfuser programmes.

UK video games companies can still apply for grants from the remaining portion of the £5 million Content Fund.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• *This figure has not been adjusted for inflation.
• Read more about the 22 studios that have been awarded funding.
• The UK Games Fund is run by non-profit UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company (UKGTF). UKGF launched in 2015 and is based in Dundee.
• The UKGF Content Fund is just one of the ways the UK Government is supporting small-to-medium sized businesses. Find out more about other sources of support through the Government’s Help to Grow campaign.

The 22 video game studios that have been awarded grants are:

• Blazing Griffin (Glasgow)
• Bonsai Collective (remote)
• Companion Group (London)
• Fumb Games (London and Surrey)
• GLITCHERS (Edinburgh)
• Hyper Luminal Games (Dundee)
• Lucky Mountain Games (London)
• Newfangled Games (Norfolk)
• Nomad Games (Warrington)
• Nyamyam (South East England)
• Psytec Games (London)
• ReadGraves (East of England)
• Silent Games (Newcastle)
• Singer Studios (London)
• Size Five Games (Dorset)
• Soul Assembly (Leamington Spa)
• Spilt Milk Studios (remote)
• Terra Tek Studios (London)
• Tiny Rebel Games (Newport, Wales)
• Triangular Pixels (Cornwall)
• Warp Digital Entertainment (London)
• Variable State (London)