Screen Victoria Is Now VicScreen, Pushing Hard For Games Funding

Screen Victoria Is Now VicScreen, Pushing Hard For Games Funding

Screen Victoria has had a bit of a rebrand.

The government-funded agency will now go by VicScreen. It is celebrating the rebrand by launching the Victorian Production Fund. The VPF is a $40 million program to bolster film, television, digital games, and online content created in the state. The program is expected to inject $130.5 million per year into the Victorian economy. It is hoped the program will create the equivalent of 3,700 full-time jobs over four years.

VicScreen also has a new $2.06 million Specialist Placement Program. The program’s goal is to find the right people to fill significant skill gaps in the industry. This will cover roles like production accountants, location managers, script editors, post-production supervisors, and, interestingly, games marketers.

Both of these programs are part of the Victorian Government’s $191.5 million VICSCREEN strategy.

“Victoria has long been the home to a vast majority of Australia’s game developers, who each contribute to making our state one of the best and most vibrant places to make games in the world,” said Liam Esler, managaging director at Melbourne game developer Summerfall Studios. “The transition to VicScreen is an exciting step for an organisation that has always been a key champion of digital games in Australia, and recognises the increasingly important role games play in the screen industry.”

The VicScreen announcements come as Australia heads deeper into a hotly contested federal election.

Numerous Victorian governments have considered video games an important part of its media landscape. An IGEA demographic study conducted in 2019 found that 33% of all video game developers operating in Australia were based in Melbourne. Its heartening to see support for our community of smaller devs continuing, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.


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