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120419: Nordic game support breaks records again

Press Release, 19 April, Malmø, Sweden.

2012 is the first year of the renewed Nordic Game Program, and 159  submitted projects testify to a still-growing need for investment and funding in the Nordic games industry. The granted games of this year's sole support round will be revealed during Nordic Game 2012 (www.nordicgame.com) in Malmö, Sweden on 24 May.

This year's one round of funding saw a record-breaking 159 projects  enter the fight for a share of the available DKK 5 million. Only about ten percent of the applicants are expected to receive grants.

Erik Robertson, head of the Nordic Game Program, says:

"I'm very happy that we are still here and able to support the industry, but we need the countries and other national actors to join together in securing the future. We now only have two more rounds left, and at significantly lower funding levels."

Since 2006 the expert group has selected several games for initial funding that went on to be successes both with the critics and in terms of sales, among those titles such as Max & the Magic Marker, IloMilo, The Ball, and Limbo.

Of the 159 projects submitted by the 1 April deadline, 52 are from Sweden, 50 from Denmark, 37 from Finland, 10 from Iceland, 7 from Norway and 3 from the Aland islands. The applicants include small and large companies, start-ups as well as studios established back in the 1980s.

In total, almost DKK 70 million was applied for. A panel of experts now evaluate the applications, and successful applicants will be notified immediately after decisions are made on 9 May. The results will be made public at a ceremony during the Nordic Game 2012 conference in Malmö on 24 May.

The new Nordic Game Program was launched in January 2012 and is planned to end in 2015. 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. For further info, please refer to www.nordicgameprogram.org.

Media contact:
Jacob Riis
Tel.: +45 2360 9422
Mail: jacob@nordicgameprogram.org

PS: Want to meet all the granted companies for this year's support round? They will be present at Nordic Game 2012. Register at www.nordicgame.com before 20 April to take advantage of the Early Bird discount offer!