Nordic Game Program funding
Next "Limbo" hopefully to emerge as 3 Million DDK of grants are awarded.
Malmö, Sweden, 9 December 2010
Danish success game “Limbo” was created with development support from the Nordic Game Program in 2006 and 2007. Now the game is harvesting prizes at award shows all over the world, with 15 nominations at 4 different international events this weekend as the most recent example.
On 9 December, eight potential “Limbos” were revealed. The ceremony for this year’s second round of development grants took place in Malmö, Sweden, where 3 million Danish kroners’ worth of funding found its way to the Nordic game industry.
Of the 136 projects submitted to the Nordic Game Program, seven companies were granted support by the expert group, which evaluated the many applications. ??The following Nordic game companies received funding:??
Erik Svedäng (Sweden), DKK 600,000 for “else { Heart.break }” - A philosophical adventure for PC/Mac set in a place where bits have replaced atoms. Get access to the actual, working programs that control the behaviour of objects, characters and puzzles in the game. Learn how to change the code to control reality and advance through the world.
Locatify (Iceland), DKK 500,000 for “Treasure Hunt” – Locatify will build a new platform for the next generation SmartPhone game. Online, multiplayer, competitive treasure-hunt-games with maps, clues, challenges, virtual army, pictures and GPS. An easy to use web-platform for designing, testing and publishing a game.
Snow Castle AS (Norway), DKK 500,000 for “Winds of Edéa: The Escape” – the first episode of a multi platform video game for children aged 8-12 based on a vast original game universe of characters and places where visuals and sound envelop the player in a easily learned yet original and challenging game play.
Traplight Ltd. (Finland), DKK 450,000 for ”The Great Escape” – a physics based rollercoaster game with puzzle elements, intuitive controls, cute graphics and funny sounds. Angry Birds meets Rollercoaster Rush. Community features are emphasized with an integrated level editor for players to create and share new challenges for the world to compete in.
Image & Form International AB (Sweden), DKK 400,000 for “Anthill” – a strategy game for iOS. As King of the Anthill, you control your ant minions through a series of sunny outdoor environments. Draw pheromone trails to direct your ants, collecting resources and expanding your base until you are able to defeat the boss of each level. ??
Copenhagen Game Productions ApS (Denmark), DKK 300,000 for “Slow Moe’s Showdown” - a Wild West gunslinging game designed for Microsoft’s Kinect. The unique feature is that players are required to move in slow-motion when they duel, heightening the drama of the typical split-second frontier gunfight.
Sarepta Studio AS (Norway), DKK 250,000 for “Shadow Puppeteer” - a co-op puzzle adventure game for the Xbox. One player acts in a full 3D environment while the other acts as his shadow. The players must work together to solve the puzzles while each staying in their 2D and 3D world respectively.
Interviews with the grant receivers will be available on Youtube and here very soon.
The application deadline for the next support round will be 24:00 (midnight, at the end of the day) on 1 April 2011. More info will soon be available at www.nordicgameprogram.org, where you can learn about the funded games from previous rounds and download the application scheme as well.
The Nordic Game Program was launched in 2006 and is planned to end in 2011. It helps improve access to high-quality Nordic computer games for children and young people, and the funding scheme is a key element in this work.
Media contact:? Jacob Riis?
Tel.: +45 2360 9422?
E-mail: jacob@nordicgameprogram.org