UK Games Fund Content Fund
Grants of £100,000 to £250,000 for established UK games studios developing commercial entertainment games with a prototype in place. Expressions of interest are open.
The UK Games Fund Content Fund offers grants of £100,000 to £250,000 for commercial games for entertainment. Expressions of interest are open. The money comes from continued government support for the UK Games Fund, announced by DCMS as part of the UK Government's Growth for Games strategy.
Applicant companies must be UK registered SMEs with PAYE employees doing games development work in the UK, and UK based founder directors must be significant shareholders. The company must not be facing acute working capital problems. The fund normally expects applicants not to be recently formed startups. It prefers companies that already employ staff beyond the founders and founders who have taken games through to shipping.
Projects need a prototype in place and IP owned by the applicant or licensed on suitable terms. The game must be a commercial entertainment title with the potential to reach an audience at scale, and it must not include gambling elements. Eligible costs are staff and contractor costs for hands on development. Student projects, games without a commercial or entertainment focus and games that cannot obtain a PEGI rating are not eligible.
Overall project costs must be at least double the requested grant, and applicants must show that the funding makes a clear difference in securing other resources, such as a publisher advance. Successful grantees receive 70% of the grant in advance, usually within four weeks of contract completion. The remaining 30% is paid when that extra funding is secured within the same financial year. Funding is expected to be spent over 6 to 12 months starting within four weeks of the offer.
Grantees submit monthly progress reports and a final report with an impact survey and an accountant certified financial report. Expressions of interest go through the UK Games Fund grant platform.