In a huge blow to Australian indie development, the Victorian Government has failed to renew funding to Film Victoria's games investment program according to the 2012-13 budget.
Despite the government describing the local games development sector as a "growing local industry with high commercial potential", funding for Film Victoria's programs that has supported the industry for over a decade is coming to an end.
High profile games such as MacGuffin's Curse, Bullistic Unleashed, Gamebook Adventures, Puzzle Quest and Jolly Rover all received funding support from Film Victoria during the development cycles.
Victoria still accounts for over 50% of all locally developed projects, so to have such a substantial program lose its funding will surely be a huge concern for local developers.
We have contacted the head of the Game Developers' Association of Australia, the Indie Game Developers Association and local developers for comment, and we will keep you posted.
By
Stephen Heller