Screen Australia drives innovation and opportunities in the games sector through new project support and global industry collaboration
Screen Australia has today announced a wide-ranging funding boost to the Australian games sector that covers 23 games, the launch of the recently announced ALT: Games Festival and support for seven Australian gamemakers to attend the prestigious Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.
These investments, totalling over $1.3 million, represent a strong commitment to both emerging and established local talent, as well as to the originality of the work being produced. This latest funding injection will continue to provide clear pathways for gamemakers to upskill, transition from solo to studio development and drive their games from prototype through to launch. The support is designed to nurture talent, open doors to new professional opportunities and strengthen Australia’s international standing in the billion-dollar global market.
The newly appointed Screen Australia Head of Games Joey Egger said, “We’re thrilled that such an exciting mix of local titles and talent are being celebrated and supported by this investment. 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,” said Egger.
The 23 games supported include:
· Dragon Valley (NSW): From creative director Pat Naoum, the gamemaker behind The Master’s Pupil, comes a crafting, sandbox adventure game where players can copy, paste and build with any object in the world, while exploring ancient mysteries and saving their people.
· Bee Major (VIC): From Weird Flex Studios, this educational story-driven game has players take on the role of a bee maestro as they explore through Naarm (Melbourne), collecting musical instrument seeds to grow a beautiful sonic garden. Bee Major is from developers Maize Wallin and Ben Koder, art director Kay-Lynn Cavanagh and writer Nayuka Gorrie (Black Comedy, Thalu). Developed with the assistance of VicScreen.
· Management In Space (NSW): The first game to transition from Screen Australia’s Emerging Gamemakers Fund through to the Games Production Fund, Management in Space is a strategic roguelike management game where players can build space stations across the galaxy to pay off a massive debt. It is from developer Matthew Lucis (Silver Stitch Productions) and composer Duncan Latto.
· These Starless Skies (WA): 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. Created by lead programmer/artist/writer/audio designer Camille Woodthorpe, character animator Cody Lehman, astrophysicist/planetary Scientist Dr Eriita Jones, narrative designer Amy Doherty and with quality assurance by Daniel Woodthorpe. Developed with the assistance of Screenwest and the WA Government.
· Hex Bound (NT): In this story-driven puzzle platformer from the NT, players take on the role of a half-witch, half-fae who must utilise her differences to save the Mortal and Fae realms from a cancerous rot that threatens to tear them apart from within. Hex Bound is a story about illness, identity, belonging and bridging a conflict between two worlds – finding a place in both. It is from creative director Skye Lavelle and lead programmer Declan Smyth
About the Author
Adrian Gunning Adrian lives in Melbourne Australia and has a huge passion for gaming, technology and pop culture. He recently finished his a Bachelor of Journalism and is currently focusing on games journalism. When not writing and playing video games, Adrian can be found in Comics 'R' Us debating the pros of the DC Universe and cons of the Marvel Universe.
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