Creative Victoria has announced the commencement of grants for PAX Rising at PAX Australia 2021, which will assist independent game developers located in Victoria with the costs of attending, managing, and promoting their work at the convention.
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One of the centrepieces of Australia’s biggest videogame and pop culture conventions, PAX Rising situates the work of local independent developers in a prime position on the convention show floor. The show saw 80,000 attendees in its pre-pandemic physical iteration in 2019, but was cancelled in 2020 before taking an online form in tandem with one of its sister shows in the US for PAX Online. Capacity restrictions to comply with COVID regulations are planned for the 2021 show. Applications to take part in the 2021 showcase closed on 20 June. This year, the Indie Showcase welcomed submissions of local tabletop games for the first time.
There are two funding options available to Victorian games businesses: $750 for PAX Rising pods, which make up the bulk of the area, and $1500 for PAX Rising booths, which are larger and more self-contained. The total grant pool is $30,000, and once exhausted the funding process will end, potentially prematurely.
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Creative Victoria stresses that only Victorian-based games businesses and sole traders who have already been accepted into PAX Aus 2021 may apply. Those that apply must have an ABN and their PAX Aus acceptance letter.
Applications are open now via the Creative Victoria Grants Portal, and will close on 31 August 2021, or earlier if the pool of funding is exhausted. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by 7 September 2021.
