The UK Games Fund (UKGF) has allocated over £3 million in government funding to support emerging video games developers and start-up studios to help in scaling their businesses and fostering the creation of new British games.
This initiative will provide grants of up to £150,000 to 22 promising games companies, enabling them to expand their teams, secure publishing agreements, and attract additional private investment.
Game companies GLITCHERS and Triangular Pixels will use their funds to support the development of innovative video games. GLITCHERS will use their grant to create The Last Eden, a game set in the Congo Basin rainforests, while Triangular Pixels will develop Unseen Diplomacy 2, a VR spy game.
This funding is part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision, with an additional £5 million investment in the UK Games Fund (UKGF) to establish a new Content Fund, bringing the total government investment in the UKGF between 2022 and 2025 to £13.4 million.
Growing the UK economy through games
UK’s culture secretary Lucy Frazer calls video games a “vital part of this government’s plans to grow the creative industries by £50 billion by 2030″ and that is why they’re supporting new developers “to maximise their potential and turn their ideas into the next best-selling, BAFTA-winning titles.”
CEO and founder of UK games talent and finance Paul Durrant OBE says, ”This growth-focussed funding has given us the opportunity to support companies further on in the journey than we’ve done before. Our focus on larger-scale grants, linked to unlocking additional leverage, adds a significant layer to the UK’s early-stage games development ecosystem.”
Since 2015, the UKGF has invested over £13 million in 450 developers and studios, including Bafta winners like Roll7. They offer grants of up to £30,000 to upcoming developers and support graduate talent through programmes like DunDev and Tranzfuser. UK game companies can still apply for grants from the £5 million Content Fund.
