Support for a federally-backed Interactive Games Fund might be thin on the ground right now, but state governments are doing a good job of coming to the table. Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and Queensland have all provided some measure of support to growing local gamedev, and now Western Australia has joined the party with an Interactive Pilot Fund of their own.
The pilot fund is relatively small–$100,000 in total–but is targeted exclusively at developers in the state working on VR and video games. According to the official Screenwest release, the state will also hold its own VR XR Festival later in July, designed to showcase local talent and projects.
Studios can apply for a maximum funding of $20,000 per project, with the official guidelines recommending the following:
The project that is subject to this application must:
1. Have a well-defined concept and product pitch.
2. Be intended for any electronic platform (including, but not limited to console, tablet, mobile, VR, AR/MR, XR and PC based platforms or any combinations of these platforms).
3. Have a clear national and/or international target audience, including an intended pathway to that audience through its distribution platform.
4. Present a clear finance plan, inclusive of any additional financing secured, and precisely how much work will be supplied in-kind by the developers.
5. Not be a commissioned project.
Any video game, serious video games, multi-platform ventures, extended reality, mixed reality, augmented reality or virtual reality development is eligible for funding. “All of which should be intended for release to national and international audience and have a well-designed procedural narrative,” the Screenwest website says.
Interested developers can also learn more about the program, and applying for it, via an information session held at Screenwest’s offices in East Perth on June 6. It’ll run for an hour, but you’ll need to register for a free ticket beforehand. Applications for the $100,000 fund close on July 1.
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