120525: 15 Nordic games granted support

The ceremony for the program’s only round of development support in 2012 took place during the annual Nordic Game conference in Malmö, Sweden, where 5 million Danish kroners’ worth of funding found its way to the Nordic game industry.

Of the 159 projects submitted to the Nordic Game Program, eleven companies were granted support by the expert group, which evaluated the many applications. The following Nordic game companies received funding:

Boldai AB (Sweden), DKK 600,000 for “Blocksworld” – a game about making game. Players drag-n-drop virtual LEGO blocks on a touch screen device. They learn through ready-made challenges such as "help the farmer build and drive a tractor." But creativity is set free in the community of shared worlds, games, and contraptions.

Zordix AB (Sweden), DKK 600,000 for “Box Car Kids” – a racing game for Nintendo 3DS, full of powerups and shortcuts through the backyards of a 1950s Nordic small town setting. Build your box car and upgrade it by winning Championships and using pickupable stuff from the tracks.

Skyrock Games Ltd (Finland), DKK 600,000 for “Malko and Luna”  - an intensive thriller for pc, Xbox 360 and PS3, set in a stunning icy environment, telling a story of a man and his dog. The game mixes survival stealth action with strong storytelling elements to dangerous northern environments.

Apex Virtual Entertainment ApS (Denmark), DKK 500,000 for “The Olsen Gang Online” – a game about the wondrous world of gentlemen thieves. The game is a strategic, action online game for multiple platforms where the player must pull spectacular heists, guided by characters from the movie, gaining cash and reputation en route to become the top thief.

Refactored Games (Denmark), DKK 450,000 for “Conlan's Claim” – a singleplayer citybuilding game for the PC about survival on a fertile but hazardous planet. You manage space pioneers as they establish a new life in a constant struggle with nature. For your settlement to succeed, you must unravel the mysteries of an alien frontier.

Midas Touch AB (Sweden), DKK 450,000 for “Pathfinder”– a visually beautiful isometric puzzle & exploratory game where you indirectly guide a character through a labyrinth-like surreal world by manipulation the environment and the senses of the character.

Virtual Game Worlds As (Norway), DKK 400,000 for “Company of Mammals” – a humoristic cartoon style RTS where animals are the freedom fighters in a battle against an evil empire.

Kuuasema Oy (Finland), DKK 400,000 for “Gigglebug” – where you can make Gigglebug's friends happy again! Tickle and play with sad and grumpy animals to make them laugh! As laughter takes root you'll have a grand party together.

Knapnok Games Aps (Denmark), DKK 350,000 for “Spin the Bottle” - a playfully flirty physical party game for Wii U for up to 8 players. Players sit around the Wii U tablet and take turns in pairs using Wii Remotes to complete collaborative physical challenges that encourage them to look at, flirt with and touch each other.

Copenhagen Bombay Rights 1 ApS (Denmark), DKK 350,000 for “Vennevillaen” - A multiplayer game for pre-school children with focus on social activities.

Image & Form International AB (Sweden), DKK 300,000 for “Spin Demon” - a casual action puzzle game for iOS devices. You swing, bounce, slide, run and jump to clear each level. The game also requires planning and on-the-fly puzzle-solving in order to complete each level.

More info about of the above games as well as updates on grant receiving games from previous support rounds can be found at www.nordicgameprogram.org.

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