Start-up games businesses will benefit from funding as part of a £50 million boost to help drive economic growth and level up the country, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced today.
The UK Games Fund is set to receive an additional £8m of funding from Government following an announcement from Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries this morning.
Based in Dundee and established in 2015, the UK Games Fund offers support to early-stage games businesses, intellectual property and new talent across the UK.
It offers financial support in the form of a range of grants, alongside mentorship and wider business support, to ambitious start up games businesses to help them develop their intellectual property, develop talent and build thriving games businesses.
Over 170 projects to date have been supported by the fund, with total investments valued at £5.7m. But the success of the scheme, which has seen a range of games fund recipients such as Auroch Digital and Ant Workshop benefit from investment after having projects funded, has encouraged Government to strengthen its investment in the fund.
The investment comes as part of a £50 million boost to the creative sector in the UK following Rishi Sunak’s commitment to the sector in the 2021 Autumn Budget.
This includes £21 million of funding to help build on the international success of the UK Global Screen Fund- which also enhances international business development opportunities for narrative video games - and an additional £18 million to the Creative Scale Up Programme, which will provide finance and businesses support to innovative creative businesses outside of London as part of the government’s levelling up plans.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, said: “Ukie has consistently called for the invaluable UK Games Fund to be extended and this is a welcome vote of confidence in our thriving games industry. The UK sector is a global success story that is both a critical exporter and a source of extensive inward investment. This support will help the next generation of businesses access the finance they need to build the games to do that, while creating high value jobs across the whole country.”