Screen Australia confirms a further $3 million investment in domestic gaming

Only a year ago, we were gazing across the sea in wonder, as the Australian Federal Government funding body for screen entertainment launched its Games: Expansion Pack and set aside $1 million to support the domestic gaming industry. 18 months on, it has decided to step things up with an additional $3 million set aside to help award winners through the pre and postproduction costs.

Screen Australia has announced that the funding will come in two parts. $2.4 million is through the Games: Expansion Pack and will be shared between 21 projects. The other $600,000 is through the First Nations Games Studio fund. 

Supporting SMEs in Australia’s gaming industry

The games being funded span a range of genres and platforms and are being developed by studios across Australia. The Games: Expansion Pack is specifically targeted at small to medium independent studios plus startups. It provides direct funding for original Australian games whose budgets are below $500,000. The new round of games funding started on October 02 2023.

As the name suggests, the First Nations Games Studio fund is a separate but related funding initiative to support First Nations game developers. Screen Australia has announced the first two studios that will each benefit to the tune of $300,000. These are GUCK and Awesome Black. 

• Victoria-based GUCK is currently working on an Aboriginal-led mobile game called Future Folklore. The studio is owned by two First Nations owners and employs eight First Nations permanent staff, plus many more contractors and casual staff. The developer is passionate about supporting people from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups. GUCK expects to share more information about Future Folklore by early next year.

• Awesome Black is based near Sydney and describes itself as a creative social enterprise. It is dedicated to developing original First Nations talent across various media including gaming, podcasting, art and literature. It aims to guarantee the necessary funding to create best practice programs, networks, skills and tools within First Nations communities that will be a route to sustainable avenues for employment, creative expression, financial security and storytelling.

Graeme Mason is CEO of Screen Australia’s CEO and commented on the huge number of talented game studios lining up and hopeful for a financial boost. He said, “It was amazing to see the high volume of incredibly strong applications for this latest round of Games: Expansion Pack and also for the inaugural First Nations Games Studio fund.” He went on to say: “We feel the best is yet to come for our games developers both locally and on the international stage.”

Still no room for casino game developers

Mr Mason talked about a diverse range of niches, but one gaming genre remains conspicuous by its absence, and that is iGaming. Across Australia, more players every year strive to find the best online pokies at GambleOnlineAustralia.com and other online casino review platforms. Yet the studios providing pokies and other real money casino games can only do so for overseas markets due to regulatory constraints. 

They are working as hard as anyone to generate revenue and jobs, but the subject matter remains a political hot potato. It seems highly unlikely that they will be on the receiving endo of any government assistance in the foreseeable future, unless there are wholesale regulatory changes. 

A look at the new projects 

We will not do a deep dive into all 21 of the new projects receiving Screen Australia funding. If you want to see them, along with the ongoing 2022 projects, they are all listed at the Screen Australia website. We will, however, pull out a handful of the more intriguing games, just as a taster:

• Covert Crew is a role-playing, story-driven game created by solo developer Daniel Pratt. It delivers an interesting combination of action-packed superheroes combat and retro turn-based strategy play.

• darkwebSTREAMER is a spooky old-style horror RPG streaming simulator that will remind seasoned players of the grand old days. From the makers of We Have Always Lived In The Forest, the game delivers a new and unique story and experience every time you play. 

• Drăculești is an adventure that draws the player into the center of its rich plot. The way the player reacts to events dictates how the plot develops and how high or low the chances of survival are. 

The Godfeather is a welcome relief for the less intense gamers around. A mafia pigeon rogue like comedy game, players take on the role of assistant to the pigeon. It involves stealth, open world exploration and an immense amount odd virtual pigeon scat. Always stay classy.