Film Victoria has announced on their website recently that they will be providing $340,000 (AUS) in funding to support local video game developers in creating content for a wide range of platforms.
The Assigned Production Investment Program comes as great news for Victorian game developers, as it aims to provide the stimulation needed for these projects. After the Australian Government axed the remaining $10 million dollars promised as part for the ‘Independent Game Developers Fund’ last year, many developers were left disappointed.
Four projects supported by the first round of funding include:
- Leaves (Many Monkeys Development) – a fairy tale adventure game filled with fantastic creatures, harebrained puzzles and swashbuckling action.
- Push Me Pull You (House House Games) – a sports-based multi-player physics-based sumo-soccer game.
- Framed (Loveshack Entertainment) – a multi-award winning puzzle game, where players rearrange scenes from a noir comic book to change the outcome of the story.
- Miss Fisher and the Deathly Maze (Tin Man Games) – an interactive adventure game based on the television program Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
Following the news post, CEO of Film Victoria Jenni Tosi says that these following projects approved for funding, demonstrate the potential of the Victorian Games Industry.
“The overall quality and artistic appeal of the games approved for funding demonstrate the potential of our Victorian games industry to deliver high quality and engaging content, sure to delight a broad audience.” said Film Victoria CEO, Jenni Tosi.
Push Me Pull You Artist, Stuart Gillespie-Cook commented to us that without the help of Film Victoria, Push Me Pull You would’ve been released as a much smaller title. “None of us can quit our day jobs yet, but Film Victoria has put us in a good position for developing future projects - as soon as PMPY is finished, we can get to work on new projects, and set ourselves up as a proper studio” says Gillespie-Cook.
Much like Gillespie-Cook’s studio, the Australian state of Victoria is currently home to over 100 game development studios, animation houses and games industry service providers.
The good news is welcome, coming on the heels of Borderlands publisher 2K Games’ announcement last week that it was closing down its Australian studio. 2K Australia was responsible for much of the development work on the excellent Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, which was received to favorable reviews from critics upon its release for PS3, PC and Xbox 360 last year. Since then, the game has made its way to current-gen home consoles, forming half of The Handsome Collection, which came out last month on PS4 and Xbox One.
2K Australia’s closure marked the end of one of the few-remaining development studios in Australia working on AAA titles, leaving the future of the Australian Games Industry uncertain.
