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090408: New record for Nordic games funding

New record for Nordic games funding
 
Record-breaking number of applications for the Nordic Game Program’s development grants evokes joy as well as concern

86 Nordic game projects were submitted to the Nordic Game Program for development funding before the deadline on 1 April. Since the support program’s initiation in 2006, the number of applications has risen steadily.

"General interest in the support program and the quality of the submitted applications has yet again exceeded our wildest expectations. We are of course very happy with this, but there are also reasons for concern”, says Erik Robertson, who manages the Nordic Game Program.
   
”The total amount of funding applied for is 14 times higher than the resources available for allocation, and the number of applications is more than four times larger than what the program was designed to handle. We have rationalised the process so we can han-dle the application flow, but at the same time our available resources have been re-duced. This has led the Nordic games community to ask if it’s reasonable to cut so deeply into what is commonly agreed to be one of the most important future industries in the Nordic region, and we don’t know what to tell them, says Erik Robertson.
 
In the next stage of the process, a group of Nordic games experts will evaluate the pro-jects submitted and award three million Danish crowns in this year's first of two support rounds. In 2008, a total of 16 projects were awarded development grants.
 
Projects awarded funding in this round will be announced at the Nordic Game 2009 con-ference in Malmö, Sweden on 19-20 May (www.nordicgame.com).

The Nordic Game Program was launched in 2006 as a project financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, and is currently in the third of a six-year project period. The program aims to improve access to Nordic computer games for Nordic children and young people, and development funding is an important part of this process. Read more at www.nordicgameprogram.org.

Press contact:
Jacob Riis
Tel: +45 2360 9422
e-mail jacob@nordicgameprogram.org