Global Games Fund Provides Emerging Market Developers with Up to $50,000 in Funding

The Gamedev.World conference organisers have unveiled a new funding initiative designed to support game developers in emerging markets worldwide. The Global Games Fund, launching in summer 2024, will provide grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to aid studios in the prototype or pre-production stages of their games. Led by Rami Ismail and Myriame Lachapelle, the fund has secured approximately $1 million in initial funding. Developers from outside the Western world are invited to submit their game pitches in multiple languages, including Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese. The fund's recoup structure is designed to be developer-friendly, with three repayment methods and a three-year recoup period, after which any outstanding debts are waived. The organisers are also seeking partnerships with publishers, investors, and other industry stakeholders to create additional funding opportunities and provide mentorship support to grant recipients. The Global Games Fund aims to address the disparity in funding distribution across the globe, providing equal access to opportunities for developers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. As stated on the fund's website, 'every developer, regardless of location or language, deserves access to funding and opportunities to create exceptional games.' The initiative is an extension of Gamedev.World's mission to make the games industry a truly global entity, building on the conference's reputation as a global, online-only event with multilingual talks and coverage of major and emerging games markets.