Twenty-three teams of graduates from across the UK are today celebrating success after
being selected to take part in TranzfuserTM 2017.
Tranzfuser is funded by UK Government and organised by UK Games Talent and Finance CIC (UKGTF). Now in its second year, the games design competition runs for 3 months. Each team will be awarded £5,000 to support them as they turn concepts into prototypes ready for further professional development.
Matt Hancock, Minister of State for the Creative Industries said:
“The UK’s creative industries are one of our biggest success stories and a big part of that is our leadership in video game production. Now we need to nurture the next generation of talent, and the Government’s UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser have been set up to do exactly this. I wish all the entrants good luck in the competition and look forward to seeing the prototypes as they develop.”
All of the 2017 selected teams are meeting for the first time today in Manchester for the TALK Tranzfuser event; a jam-packed day of practice pitching sessions and expert advice.
The hard work will culminate in September when the teams journey to EGX 2017, the UK’s biggest consumer games event which will take place at Birmingham NEC where the teams will showcase their work. The contestants will pitch their prototypes to a panel of games industry experts for the opportunity to receive a grant of up to £25,000 from the UK Games Fund (also operated by UKGTF).
Today, UKGTF also announced the network of UK-wide local hubs which will support the individual teams throughout their Tranzfuser journey.
Deborah Farley, Head of Talent and Outreach, said:
“The quality of the applications to Tranzfuser 2017 was very high across the board. This made the judging process for our external reviewers no easy task. However, after much
deliberation I am pleased that 23 teams have been selected to take part in this year’s competition, an increase of five from last year.
“We’re also pleased to welcome five institutions to our network of local hubs to take part in Tranzfuser for the first time. Their fresh insight will help build on the quality of professionalism and support that was so invaluable to our teams in 2016.”
The teams and local hubs are as follows:
Teesside Launchpad, Teesside University* (North East England)
• Fox Byte Games
Futureworks Media School* (North West England)
- Broken Pixel Studios
- Foxtrot 203
University of Bradford* (West Yorkshire)
• Gebba Games
University of Huddersfield, Enterprise Team* (West Yorkshire)
- Giant Games
- Nocturnals
- Shuttershade Studios
Sheffield Hallam University (South Yorkshire)
- Final Forge
- Inside Out Games
- Grim Inc
Brunel University (London)
- A Loaded T easpoon
- Drift
- Slime Time Studios
Eastern Enterprise Hub (South East England)
• IndieByte
Wrexham Glyndwr University* (North Wales)
- Ethereal
- Round Square Studios
- Static Shell Studios
University of South Wales (South Wales)
- Mochi Software
- Dark Planet Studios
- Filthy Fresh
Northern Ireland Screen (Northern Ireland)
• No Piknik
Abertay University (East Scotland)
• Pocket Sized Hands
Glasgow Caledonian University (West Scotland)
• Pioneer Games
Richard Hebblewhite, Tranzfuser Local Hub Coordinator for Wrexham Glyndwr University said:
“We are delighted to be part of Tranzfuser 2017. The games industry in North Wales is very much embryonic, and becoming a Tranzfuser Hub is a natural step forward in terms of helping to broaden our own business development goals, and to widen participation and empower graduates to further develop their own games studios.
“We were absolutely thrilled to hear that three teams from our university have been selected to participate in this year’s Tranzfuser programme and we will be supporting them with space in our business incubation centre (Enterprise Lounge), along with dedicated mentoring and business support from our Zone Enterprise Hub.
“As the Tranzfuser Hub Coordinator, I’m looking forward to working with the wider Tranzfuser community as we look to strengthen the UK games industry starting at the grass roots level.”
Three of the teams taking part in Tranzfuser 2017 are led by women. Eleanor Cunningham, Team Leader of Final Forge Studios said:
“Tranzfuser presents a truly unique opportunity to push forward the presence of women within gaming. I genuinely believe that the diversity of the competition will both strengthen and improve our industry. It’s so vital that women feel like they have a place in this line of work and that women continue to be inspired to become involved and bring new and exciting ideas to the forefront.”
“On top of that, this competition offers a rare chance for us to explore ideas which we would never otherwise have had the opportunity to do, and being supported by Tranzfuser has a wide variety of benefits; allowing us to build our own presence as a small team,
financial support, networking opportunities and even the chance to show a prototype at EGX – these things just wouldn’t be possible for a small team of graduates to achieve any other way.”
Follow the progress of the Tranzfuser Teams via our Facebook page. Follow @ukgamestalent for the latest information about Tranzfuser. www.tranzfuser.com
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About UK Games Talent and Finance CIC
UK Games Talent and Finance CIC is a not for profit Community Interest Company that has been established to serve a UK’s early stage games development community including companies and individuals. The company plans a wide range of support and intervention projects to support the games development community.
More information on 2016 participants and their progress so far can be found here. The UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser programme are funded by UK government. Press Contacts
Kirsty Gibson, Head of Community at UKGTF
Kirsty@ukgamesfund.com
07557309118
● www.tranzfuser.com
● www.ukgamestalent.com ● www.ukgamesfund.com