Round 8

Round 8 of the UK Games Fund has now CLOSED for applications. The following information is supplied for reference only.

With seven rounds under our belt we’ve learned a great deal about the best way we can support early stage games developers. We’ve given the background to our experience and thinking in our news story here. For this reason we’d urge you to read all of the following information carefully. Successful applicants are initially eligible for grant support of £6,000 to contribute towards three months of development costs.

If you have been funded by us previously, we won’t fund your project here with continuation funds nor will we fund past-funded companies for new projects.

After the three-month funded development period, we aim to provide networking opportunities via access to an event in 2022.

A further chance to pitch directly to the UK Games Fund will also be provided, where successful teams can secure an additional grant of up to £19,000 (subject to our external funding situation). Any additional grants will be allocated from April 2022.

HOW IT WILL WORK

Companies with early-stage games development can apply for grant support of £6,000. Funding will be provided in three £2k tranches over three months (January to March 2022) . Grant support is aimed at supporting the development of an interactive digital entertainment concept and associated funding proposal.

Due to the continued demand for support from the UK Games Fund, the application window for Round 8 will be time constrained, and you should be ready to submit your video pitch as soon as you apply for funding.  To this end, we recommend you download the video guidance and start work on your pitch now, before the written application form goes live.

The level of competition for our grants is generally very high, due to the large volume of good quality applications that we receive. We STRONGLY advise potential applicants to read the following guidance thoroughly.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

For the best chance of success, we suggest the following as a baseline for applicants to this round:

  • Your company should be registered in the UK at time of application and you must not have received funding from the UK Games Fund before.
  • Your project can be very early stage and you should genuinely be looking to improve your knowledge and experience in pitching for funding and game content to support that pitch.
  • You should have a clear idea of what your unique selling point or other market differentiator is – being able to communicate this clearly will help build confidence in your project.
  • Given the timescales for the awarding of funding in Round 8, you should be ready to develop your concept and funding proposal as soon as possible
  • Your team does not need to have past experience of completing and shipping a project, but we expect you to have knowledge and expertise in video games development at a sufficient level to give us confidence you can deliver the project.
  • You should be ready to research and better understand the funding landscape; who you will approach to fund the remainder of the project, how you will handle publishing, etc.
  • You should be able to describe the future of your business, how the grant will provide a positive impact on your financial sustainability and growth as a studio, and what your vision is beyond this individual project. This isn’t about maintaining the status quo, there must be a growth and expansion ambition down the line including directly employed staff. Our support is intended to create positive economic impact downstream so projects that aren’t linked to these aspirations won’t be supported.

KEY DATES

A video pitch and written application will be required. If applying by video pitch presents any challenges, please contact us via help@ukgamesfund.com for assistance.

After the funded development period, we aim to provide networking opportunities via access to an event in 2022.

Round 8 funded companies will have a further chance to pitch directly to the UK Games Fund, where successful teams can secure an additional grant of up to £19,000 (as always, subject to external funding availability).

Any additional grants will be allocated from April 2022.

Pitch Video Guidance

We've had a lot of Expressions of Interest submitted this past 24 hours. All eligible applicants are required to complete an EoI. Don't miss out! bit.ly/3JJnJAh

About 3 days ago from UK Games Fund's Twitter