Screen Australia Has Announced Which Aussie Games Will Share $1.6 Million In Funding

Screen Australia has announced the recipients of over $1.6 million worth of funding support through the Games Production Fund, and an additional 15 games through the Emerging Gamemakers Fund. Both initiatives were announced in October alongside the Future Leaders Delegation, which saw five recipients chosen to travel to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco this week.

Screen Australia’s newest programs come with support from the Federal Government’s National Cultural Policy Revive, which includes a $12 million commitment over four years for games funding via the national body.

Tony Burke, Minister for the Arts, said in a press release that Australia’s “proud history of game development” goes right back to The Hobbit, with Screen Australia’s funding opportunities serving as a means to “support the future of Australian game development, making sure we don’t miss out on the next Unpacking or Untitled Goose Game.” “Many of these games might not be set in Australia – or even on this planet – but they do show the best of Australian creativity and storytelling,” Burke said. 

Screen Australia’s Games Production Fund provides grants of up to $100,000 AUD for new independent Australian games with budgets under $500,000. Here’s a full rundown of all the titles receiving funding in this round:

Games Production Fund

• Winnie’s Hole (Twice Different)
• Lighthaze World (Radiobush Pty Ltd)
• Which Way Up: Galaxy Games (Turtle Flip Studio)
• Squidge (Chinfinger Pty Ltd)
• Mystiques Haunted Antiques (Lemonade Games)
• Momento (Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio Pty Ltd)
• Finch and Archie (Octarine Arts)
• KĀDOMON: HYPER AUTO BATTLERS (Dino Rocket)
• Rat Trap (SQUASH & STRETCH PTY LTD)
• Ascending Inferno (Oppolyon Studios)
• Anvilheart (Towerpoint Pty Ltd)
• My Arms Are Longer Now (Toot Games Pty Ltd)

Emerging Game Makers Fund

• Bones (Amber Southall)
• River Scene Zine (Maximilian John Myers)
• Clownbaby! (T-Dog eXtreme)
• Catto’s Post Office (Ha Young Lee)
• Tomorrow’s Past (Typecast Pty Ltd)
• Crimson Cutlass (Cerulean Creative Studios)
• Tea, Please! (Siobhan Willoughby)
• Planet B (Amy Conor McNickle)
• SPÜTWEISER (Dana McKay)
• Gale From The Mantle (Cody Lehman)
• Roots (Chloe Brett)
• King Tidal (William Hinz)
• Key Fairy (Owl Machine)
• Apothecary of City X (Lemon Jolly Studios)
• Deficit: The ADHD RPG (Gabriella Lowgren)