New £4m Prototype Fund is Another Arrow in the Quiver for the UK Video Games Industry

New £4m Prototype Fund is Another Arrow in the Quiver for the UK Video Games Industry

TIGA, the network for video games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry, said today that a new £4 million Prototype Fund was another arrow in the quiver for the UK video games industry. TIGA had campaigned for the introduction of the Prototype Fund, calling for its introduction in submissions to the Government before the Autumn Statement 2014, in the TIGA Manifesto and in TIGA’s Budget Submissions prior to the announcement of the scheme in the March 2015 Budget.

The Video Games Prototype Fund, launched on October 12th 2015 will offer grants of up to £25,000 to support video games projects, as well as creating jobs, promoting talent and encouraging the growth of games clusters throughout the UK. The Prototype Fund will run from 2015 to 2019.

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:

“The new £4 million Prototype Fund is another arrow in the quiver for the UK video games industry and one which TIGA has consistently campaigned for. The new Fund will help individuals, start-ups and small games studios. The Fund will enhance skills, improve access to finance and advance regional games clusters.

“The UK video games industry contributes over £1.1 billion to UK GDP. This Fund, allied with Games Tax Relief, R&D Tax Credits and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, will further improve the industry’s access to finance and so contribute to the future success of the sector.”

Key features of the Prototype Fund include:

grants of up to £25,000 to help new and young games development businesses create working prototype games;
grants of up to £50,000 for a limited number of projects to take their ideas beyond the prototype phase;
talent development initiatives – this will include competitions for students and graduate teams to create and showcase new games, together with mentoring for businesses and individuals;
opportunities for talented individuals to work on games prototype projects; and
applications will be invited from eligible businesses and individuals based anywhere in the UK.

The Prototype fund will build upon a previous government-supported scheme, which was successfully run by Abertay University between 2010 and 2014.

The Fund will be managed by the UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company and will explore joint initiatives with a variety of organisations including the BFI, Creative England, Creative Scotland and TIGA. See www.ukgamesfund.com for more information about the Prototype Fund.

ENDS

TIGA isthe network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry. Since 2010, TIGA has won 24 business awards and commendations and has been successfully accredited as an Investors in People organisation three times. TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

Political representation
Media representation
Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video games trade media.

Get in touch:

Tel: 0845 468 2330

Email: info@tiga.org

Web: www.tiga.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tigamovement

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga

For further information, you can also contact: Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org