Games Fund enters 2025 with affirmed DCMS backing

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DunDev 2025, a residential programme for promising new UK games studios, will be held in January, kicking off the next 12 months of activity for the Dundee-based UK Games Fund.

Four studios will take part in the programme to focus exclusively on sharpening the business and creative aspects of their current games project. They will receive structured support in the month-long initiative and at the end studios will be invited to pitch for funds from the UK Games Fund for games prototype financing to continue commercial development of their project.

The UK Games Fund received a vote of confidence from the Government in November when the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy named it among the creative industries programmes that would continue to be funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

It is run by UK Games Talent and Finance (UKGTF), a non-profit Community Interest Company with the remit to support both companies and individuals in the UK's early stage games development and digital interactive business and creative ecosystem. To support applicants at different phases in early stage games development, the UK Games Fund covers both a Prototype Fund for early stage prototyping and a Content Fund.

An update of information of the companies and games within the UK Games Fund portfolio was released in November.

It included details such as the fact the Content Fund-backed company Spilt Milk Studios, which launched its funded project, Trash Goblin. The Prototype Fund portfolio Maintain Altitude also secured $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round, with Oliver Moira from Maintain Altitude describing the UKGF's backing as instrumental in transforming an interesting idea into a playable prototype.

Details on games being announced, released and publisher deals specifically linked to the Content Fund Portfolio have also been shared.

UKGTF also runs Transfuzer, a pathway to enterprise for new UK games graduates, taking teams from concept and prototyping through to publishing. In 2024, there was a record number of applications to Transfuzer from UK graduate developers with 19 teams chosen for the summer-long Tranzfuser programme.

Four studios were selected for Games Fund grant support with an additional three invited to take part in DunDev.

More at https://ukgamesfund.com/

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