Screen Australia has announced a boosted wave of games funding, with support provided to emerging and established gamemakers, including those travelling to GDC, as well as the upcoming ALT: Games Festival.
In a press release, the organisation has celebrated the talents and resilience of local Australian developers, highlighting their tenacity in tough times. Its latest wave of funding comprises AUD $1.3 million worth of spending, to help “provide clear pathways for gamemakers to upskill, transition from solo to studio development and drive their games from prototype through to launch.”
As noted, Screen Australia is keen to continue fostering skills development within Australia, giving emerging and established developers a boost to realise their most ambitious creative ideas.
“We’re thrilled that such an exciting mix of local titles and talent are being celebrated and supported by this investment,” Joey Egger, Screen Australia Head of Games said. “From intimate stories to challenging puzzlers, these games showcase our diversity, unique culture and game design expertise, and really demonstrates why we continue to excel on the world stage.”
“We also know the games sector is resilient, adaptive and tenacious, driven by a strong sense of connection and community. That’s why we are proud to support local events such as the ALT: Games Festival and for our gamemakers to forge impactful relationships here and overseas, to ensure their games get into the hands of players around the world.”
Read: Powerhouse announces brand new games festival, ALT: GAMES
Here’s the full list of games set to be supported in the latest round of Screen Australia funding.
SCREEN AUSTRALIA – EMERGING GAMEMAKERS FUND
- Dancing Hearts (Creme Purlee Games) – “As the leader of a once-thriving lion dance troupe now disbanded, you must climb your way out from underneath debilitating debt by convincing former teammates to return to the sport they gave up, and competing in auto chess-inspired dance battles on your way to reclaim lost glory.”
- Shapeshifter (Working Title) (Lauren Nicholls) – “A 2D indie puzzle game about a shapeshifter and their journey across a far-flung land haunted by ghosts and unfriendly forces.”
- Ascent of the Colossus (Daniel Ferguson) – “Ascend the Last Colossus and piece together the stories of its inhabitants. As players make their way up the staggeringly huge being, they’ll begin to understand the motivations behind the colossus’s various inhabitants and piece together the story of what is believed to be the last colossus.”
- Bedtime Stories (Liquid Heart Pty Ltd) – “Ward off evils in Cantonese and Indonesian fairytales to find mystical artefacts, only to realise that the allies you form during your journey are much more powerful.”
- Globe Glider (Wheels and Bones Ltd) – “An open-world travel game for the Playdate, aimed at educating players about our planet.”
- Bee Major (Weird Flex Studio Pty Ltd) – “Play as a bee maestro, collecting musical instrument seeds to grow your sonic garden.”
- Poly Playground (Zac Lucarelli) – “Poly Playground is a casual, playful 3D sandbox designed to nurture creatives through burnout.”
- Hex Bound (Skye Lavelle) – “You are a half-witch, half-fae whose magic has been ripped away by a curse. Your Coven and all the Fae realms are slowly collapsing due to a cancerous rot. Uncover its source, reclaim your power, and fight to save your dying worlds.”
- Orion’s End (Southfog Games Pty Ltd) – “Orion’s End is a Space Adventure Life Sim with a heavy focus on exploration, adventure, and forging friendships amongst the stars.”
- Dragon Valley (Pat Naoum Games Pty Ltd) – “Dragon Valley is a crafting game where you can copy, paste and build with any object in the world. A sandbox adventure about exploring ancient mysteries and saving your people.”
- Canvas Street (Leura Konstanze Smith) – “Canvas Street is a game about designing apartments. In the game, you design different homes for different people, going through the architectural design process one step at a time.”
- Putrid/Sharp (Perseus Harris) – “Slice your way through the stages of rot as you try to save someone in a decaying world.”
- Rawring Candies (50 Seconds Studio Pty Ltd) – ” Play as a chaotic candy maker and work with your friends to craft delicious candies and feed them to your hungry dragon.”
SCREEN AUSTRALIA – GAMES PRODUCTION FUND
- Rob & Roll (Devil Juice Studios) – “A tight, dice rolling tactics game where a team of mischievous goblins pushes their luck to steal powerful relics for a mysterious wizard.”
- Snow Cone (Hungry Sky Pty Ltd) – “A puzzle game about rolling icy treats and cleaning up the streets.”
- Management in Space (Silver Stitch Productions Pty Ltd) – “Build your space station, then defend, profit, die, and repeat until the universe collapses.”
- Nullstar: Solus (Smash Attack Studios) – “Fly through a world at its end, take on 80 different levels as a solitary scav drone, and collect the remnants of a fallen city’s nullstar.”
- These Starless Skies (Wayward Astronaut Pty Ltd) – “In These Starless Skies, a discordant team of planetary scientists must confront their personal demons and unravel the enigma of a mysterious tidally-locked planet, all before their inner chaos takes over in this sci-fi point and click adventure.”
- Stakeout (Spell Circle Pty Ltd) – “Stakeout is a first-person sandbox photography sim about vampire hunting.”
- Dungeons and Dining Tables (Catalyst Games Pty Ltd) – “A cosy RPG about collecting furniture and delving dungeons.”
- Incarnal (Were You Followed) – “Shape intimate and loving relationships in a dark fantasy hellscape where you provide solace and safety to those who have never been able to experience it before.”
- Way to the Woods (onepixel.dog) – “A Deer and Fawn must embark on a journey through an abandoned world of the unknown to get home.”
- Unannounced Lamp Game (Studio Folly) – “An action-adventure Roguelike game from Studio Folly, the studio behind Gubbins.“