German Game Industry Receives Significant Boost with €8m Grant to Rockfish Games

Rockfish Games, the studio behind the Everspace franchise, has secured an €8 million grant from the German government's recently expanded €125 million games fund. This funding will support the development of the next Everspace title. The grant program, launched in 2020 by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space, provides financial assistance to game developers, covering up to 50% of production and prototype development costs, with grants ranging from €300,000 to €8 million per project. Rockfish Games' €8 million grant is the largest awarded from the fund and will be distributed over five years. The Hamburg-based studio plans to use the funding to develop the next Everspace title, with the most recent release, Everspace 2: Wrath of the Ancients, having been partially funded by the BMFTR. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Rockfish Games CEO and co-founder Michael Schade discussed the grant program and its impact on the German games industry. The funding will cover nearly 45% of the development costs for the next Everspace title, which has a budget of €20 million. According to Schade, this funding allows the studio to maintain its independence and self-fund the remaining portion of the project. The grant submission process involved submitting a quarterly milestone plan, overseen by DLR Projektträger, Germany's national research centre. Schade praised the level of gaming industry knowledge at both the DLR-PT and the BMFTR, describing conversations with policymakers and coordinators as being on par with those of top-tier publishers or platform holders. The grant provides long-term stability for Rockfish as it expands the Everspace franchise, allowing the studio to implement raises, team training, marketing efforts, and operational tasks as it grows from a small to mid-sized studio. In the last six months, Rockfish has added ten team members, a mix of full-time employees and experienced developers from co-dev studios. The funding is also being used to upskill current staff, which Schade says will result in an improved cinematic process in the next game. For Schade, the grant is crucial in enabling Rockfish to remain independent and retain control over the development and direction of its games. The funding also allows the studio to consider future possibilities, such as exploring new technologies and negotiating better deals. While Rockfish would not have been in dire straits without this funding, Schade asserts that the studio could not have fully realized its vision without it. The grant program has been instrumental in supporting the growth of the German games industry, particularly in the indie and AA space. Schade believes that the fund's support of AA studios will provide a direct financial return to the government, creating a pool of high-paying jobs and fostering the development of new technology. With its lower investment cost and creative flexibility, AA is a strong focus for the industry, and this grant program is in line with that.