Dundee Video Game Companies Win Government Funding

Two games companies from Dundee, Ruffian Games and Tag Games have been awarded a share of the £4 million UK Games Fund.

Home to critically acclaimed games such as Batman Arkham Knight and Monument Valley, the UK's video games sector plays a vital role in the country’s thriving creative industries.

Now worth £84 billion to the economy, the creative industries are one of the UK’s greatest success stories. Government support through things like tax credit and the UK Games Fund is helping to drive that growth.

The Fund will run until 2019 and will provide grants of up to £50,000 to support video games projects, create jobs and help develop new talent.

Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy said:

“The UK is home to some of the world’s most successful video games and this cash boost will help these games companies, like Ruffian Games and Tag Games to grow their business and create the blockbusters of tomorrow.

“I hope this Fund will give them the boost and extra support they need and urge other games companies and developers to apply for funding.”

The first round of the UK Games Fund invited businesses to apply for grants to take current projects and make them into working prototype games. It was recognised that many small businesses lack the capital to help develop their ideas and attract private investment. This Fund has been created to help bridge that gap and help developers take their ideas from the drawing board and into production.

Twenty-four companies across the UK have been selected in the first round of the UK Games Fund and will now receive grants to develop their projects.

Ruffian Games, Creative Director, Billy Thomson said:

“Getting to be one of the first to receive funding from the UK Games Fund is not only a massive help financially, it’s also a huge compliment. Fragmental will be our first self-published game at Ruffian, and this funding will allow us to add more content and apply additional test and refinement time to our development – all of which will result in a far better gameplay experience for the players who purchase the final game.”

Tag Games, CEO, Paul Farley said:

“We are delighted that our project has been chosen to receive support from the UK Games Fund. This grant will be vital in allowing us to develop exciting new game IP to the prototype stage, opening new market opportunities and increasing our company’s growth potential.”

Paul Durrant, Managing Director, UK Games Talent and Finance CIC said:

"The level of creative activity in the UK's games development sector is running at record levels. The 100 plus applications we received to the first round of the UK Games Fund has surpassed any of the rounds in our previous fund. Our new portfolio of supported companies represent the first members of our talent-led movement to build on the UK's creative strengths in video games development."

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