Today the United Kingdom officially launched its UK Games Fund program, a public grant program aimed at growing the country’s game development industry by backing smaller studios and teams with creative ideas.

The program comes from an allocation of £4 million (roughly $6.1 million USD) in funding from the UK government, and the money will be given out in a series of £25,000 and £50,000 grants over the next four years. The first tier of £25,000 grants will be more widely available, while the second tier of £50,000 grants will be given out to a limited number of projects that are “further advanced.”

“We are aiming to boost the UK’s games business and talent ecosystem,” the program’s website explains. “We want our funding to create jobs, promote diverse new teams, enhance skills and increase the amount of new games IPs in the UK. In short, we’re working to support the UK’s early-stage games development community.”

The organization notes that it will choose teams that it believes have potential and will be able to benefit from the funding.

“We’ve learned from previous projects that we can have a positive impact by providing this type of support,” the organization explained. “The logic behind our approach is that by increasing the volume of creative teams and talent that have real-world experience in developing their own titles under their belt, the greater the chance of one of those teams and titles becoming a significant success. The breakthrough may not come from the original project we support, but every project has positive learning impacts that are taken through into business and or personal career development.”

There are currently no details on the application process, but the organization said that teams who are interested in applying can email enquiry@ukgamesfund.com to receive updates on how to begin the process.

Photo by DncnH