Dundee games firms among first recipients of UK Games Fund investment

Dundee-based video games companies Ruffian Games and Tag Games have become among the first to receive funding from a new UK Government initiative to support the development of new games and apps.

The awards of £50,000 form part of a new £4m UK Govt initiative launched in October to support the games industry across Britain, including tax reliefs.

This first round invited companies to apply for funding to grow existing projects into fully fledged prototypes.

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Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy said he hoped the investment would help grow businesses an enable the development of “the blockbusters of tomorrow”.

Creative director of Ruffian Games, 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.”

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."

Dundee is increasingly thought of as a hub for the games industry.

Last year Dundee-based entrepreneur and chairman of 4J Studios Chris Van Der Kuyl told a meeting of the Scottish Affairs select committee digital entertainment could “make North Sea oil look like a drop in the ocean” to the Scottish economy.

UK Games Fund runs until 2019.