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First Games Innovation Fund recipients announced
22 November 2019
Six South Australian game developers have received a share of the State Government’s new $300,000 Games Innovation Fund, designed to develop and retain South Australian original IP in what is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said the six recipients delivered outstanding proposals demonstrating an understanding of the market and global audiences and all featured a distinctiveness within the games genre.
“Game development is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world, estimated to be worth almost $200 billion globally. South Australia’s Creative Industries are well recognised the world over, and this new fund allows South Australian ingenuity and creativity to shine on a global stage, while generating new revenue streams for our local game-makers,” Minister Pisoni said.
The round one recipients are:
- Eduardo Cardenas-Cruz, Top Chop Games
Ultra Casual Game Collection – Snackable games for the casual player.
- Jay Weston, Exbleative
Exo One – Pilot an alien craft on a gravity-defying, interplanetary journey.
- Justin Wight, Monkeystack
Trailblazer – The living embodiment of a dormant AI investigates the desolate wasteland of its own creation in an attempt to find a way out.
- Will Tamblyn, Voxon Photonics
- Tom Phillips, We Made a Thing Studios
Box Knight: Bash – The office has fallen into darkness, once happy employees have now turned into dark and dangerous creatures and the office waits for a hero: that is you. Become the Box Knight and bring light back into this dark place.
- Patrick Webb, Melonhead Games
Rooftop Renegade – Evade capture in this fast-paced action platformer as you race through time against time.
“It is crucial to retain South Australian IP in the State, and enable the industry to grow and flourish, creating jobs and opportunities in a robust and sustainable sector. Mirroring our world-renowned PDV facilities, South Australia will also increasing become a key destination for games production,” Minister Pisoni said.
Already, South Australia’s game sector is extremely competitive on a national level, with Adelaide game developers Mighty Kingdom taking the coveted title of Studio of the Year lat ast month’s at 2019 Australian Game Developer Awards, the second year in a row that a South Australian developer has won the award, after Team Cherry took the title in 2018.
Adelaide Studios based animation, digital content and design studio Monkeystack won the Austrade Professional Services Award at the recent 2019 Business SA Export Awards and representing their diverse slate, Monkeystack has also been nominated for Best Scripted Online Video at the AACTAs.
The Games Innovation Fund is administered by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC).
CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation Kate Croser said the new games funding reflected the SAFC’s evolving role in supporting the full breadth of the State’s screen industry.
“Today’s screen production encompasses so much more than film and television, with web, interactive and gaming now some of the fastest-growing areas of the industry globally. This new Games Innovation Fund allows the SAFC to continue in its commitment to support and develop South Australian screen creatives of all types,” she said.
The SAFC Games Innovation Fund, launched in August, aims to support the progress of outstanding, original and creative digital games for production in South Australia. All stages of development can assist games developers to achieve goals including the creation and retention of original South Australian IP, access to new markets and the generation of revenue. The product must be intended for public release.
The aims and objectives of this Fund intend to deliver maximum impact to the South Australian games community emphasising the importance of the development and retention of South Australian IP.
Round two of funding will open in February, 2020. For more information, click here.
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Featured image: Monkeystack