Screen Australia recently announced major new funding for 27 game creators across Australia. This is one of the largest funding bodies for the organization, which is stepping up support for Australian-made games as part of the Australian Government’s new National Culture Policy. Lee Naimo, Screen Australia’s head of online and games, said the collaborative effort was aimed at unlocking Australian creativity while paving the way for skills.
“For us as the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the artistic aspect is very important. But we also want to contribute to the creation of skills, jobs and sustainability,” Naimo told GameHub . “If we achieve what we want, five, 10, 20 years from now, the funding will result in a more diverse, experimental and supportive industry. Our ambition is for the industry to continue to grow and diversify.”
Screen Australia is a unique organization in that it is designed to support Australian-made games across the board, working alongside state-based funding bodies such as VicScreen, Screen Queensland and Screen NSW. Naimo believes it is important for developers to be able to develop from where they are, without having to travel from state to state in search of funding opportunities. When opportunities are few and far between, Screen Australia aims to lend a helping hand.
Naimo said cultural organizations in each state are working together to share knowledge and objectives and ensure maximum support for the arts across the country. Developers applying for Screen Australia funding may already have received funding from VicScreen, Screen Queensland or other organizations, but Screen Australia acts as an internal net to some extent.
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Image: Momento (Fat Alien Cat/Nomo Studio)
“You don’t need to include any other funding in your financial plan to participate in Screen Australia,” Mr Naimo explained. “Often that helps because we know someone else is on board with it, whether it’s a state agency or a publisher or an investor or private capital. But often we are the first piece of the puzzle. And that’s okay too. We all have overlapping but separate priorities.”
One of Screen Australia’s priorities is to nail the weirdness.
Naimo highlighted that specific awards presented to developers are good examples of successful fundraising, including Fuzzy Ghost’s “Queer Man Peering Into a Rock Pool.jpg,” which won the 2023 Independent It was nominated for the Games Festival (IGF) Awards, but nothing more. It is important for organizations to foster creative ideas.
“One of our real goals in establishing these two funds (Game Production Fund and Emerging Game Makers Fund) was to support these strange, experimental and risky games,” Naimo said. says.
“We think it’s our role to be able to support people and their vision and the kinds of games they want to make. The artistic merit they have is very commercial and commercially viable. Either it is, or it’s really, really weird.”
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“At the scale of the budgets that we operate in, in low-budget games like this, the budget is often split into oddities. Weirdness is what gets people’s attention. Weirdness is… It’s a way for people to express themselves, not just as game creators, but as audiences playing games. We’re here for something really weird.”
“We often say: Find your unusual thing and bring it to us.”
Image: Winnie’s Hole (Twice Different)
Naimo was quick to clarify that “weird for weird’s sake” isn’t exactly the same as representation through weirdness, but he does encourage game developers to explore weirdness and create “tangible, expressive and encouraged them to utilize it in a personal way. ” was incorporated into practice.
The most novel recent announcement from Screen Australia is that a number of truly bizarre games are now being supported with Australian Government funding. Winnie’s Hole is a notable example. In this body horror adventure – roguelike, you control the virus that lives in Pooh’s body and “refines” him into his primitive form.
It’s visually terrifying and incredibly weird, but Lee Naimo says Screen Australia loves the project for its artistic and creative merits and its all-important sense of weirdness.
“It’s very hard to deny (‘Winnie’s Hole’s) audience traction,” Naimo said. “It’s a bit of a bait-and-switch; it feels like the virus that infects Winnie the Pooh is a weird hook to draw players in, but the game itself is really great, really convincing, and actually really heartfelt.” It makes me feel.”
Notably, the team behind Winnie’s Hole applied to Screen Australia twice before successfully securing funding for Winnie’s Hole, something Naimo encouraged. By listening to feedback, iterating on your design, and re-proposing stronger, more well-thought-out ideas, you increase your chances of gaining support.
“We are really happy and grateful that the developers are taking our feedback and implementing it,” says Naimo. “It makes a big difference.”
Image: Mystiques Haunted Antiques (Lemonade Game)
Mystiques Haunted Antiques is another example of a strange game that captivated Screen Australia. The game follows four “terrible women” who develop supernatural powers to save their antique store.
“Like the way the game is presented, this is about four of the worst women you’ll ever meet, but this is the kind of game we should support, the kind of game we need to speak out. It’s a game. It’s a really great game,” Naimo said.
“Creativity-wise, these games really meet that criteria and our criteria of exceptional creativity, and[they’re]really unique.” For Naimo, each of the funded games Trust behind the project was also essential. “A good game, no matter its size, captures the gameplay, the audience experience, and has to really know and understand what it’s trying to say. Be careful.”
For Naimo, being able to foster the growth of these games and give developers a runway to tell their stories is a reward in itself. At Screen Australia, we are in a unique position to have the conversations needed to promote Australia’s games industry and ensure its future growth.
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“Being here at GDC’s Australian reception (at the time of the interview), seeing a number of the games we’ve funded on display, and talking to publishers, other investors and platform holders. …It’s very gratifying to see the impact firsthand,” Naimo said. “You see those conversations happening and careers moving forward.”
According to Naimo, funding for one particular project, The Master’s Pupil, will give game developer Pat Naum additional funding for future projects and financial support that will provide stability for next steps. I did.
“We helped him get the game he had been hand-drawing for over seven years across the finish line and into the market, gaining attention on a variety of platforms, and using that success to launch his next project. I made it,” Naimo explained. “It’s amazing to see the results. It’s really hard to explain how privileged I am to be in this role, helping people realize their dreams.”
Naimo himself has previously received funding from Screen Australia and can confidently say that it has changed his life for the better. Now he’s trying to convey that. “I’m really lucky to be able to help people,” he said.
Find out more about the latest Screen Australia funding round on GamesHub.
