The latest Game Developers Association of Australia newsletter has been released. This issue has some very interesting tidbits, including a Q&A with Firemint CEO, Rob Murray, and news of the Electronic Games Investment Fund...
Launched Monday 7th November at simultaneous events in Canberra, Melbourne, and Brisbane, by the Federal Minister for Information Technology, Helen Coonan, the Electronic Games Investment Fund will be seeking investors as part of several rounds of capital raising to be controlled by the Fund and invested in appropriate game projects overtime. Projects will initially be PSP, GBA, and Nintendo DS projects.?Through EGIF?s investment, all sides in the Games industry can increase their profits, EGIF will share in the gains and provide franked dividends to its shareholders.? EGIF is a registered Pooled Development Fund. As such, the shareholders will receive generous tax benefits available under the PDF Act.
There's also an interesting article called GDAA 2005: Moving forward, which outlines the GDAA's long term vision for the industry. The GDAA has a national skills and training strategy (which aims to increase industry employment past 2,000), a web based Business and Project Management Program for GDAA members, and lobbies the government for the establishment of a games investment fund.
On a final note, the new round for the Xbox and PS2 kits for Victorians is closing 30 November 2005.
GDAA accordingly invites Victorian game developers interested in the program to submit proposals for Round 2 of the Xbox Development Kit Program, and/or for Round 5 of the PlayStation2 Development Kit Program.
More details on the GDAA website.
If you want to subscribe to the GDAA Newsletter, click on the following link to find out how!
EGIF: Too bad it is limited to only: PSP, GBA and DS projects.
But it sounds like it is a step in the right direction
The EGIF has stated they will fund PC/console projects in time. Handheld projects appear to be attractive at first instance because of the smaller budget/timeframes they offer, which matches the fact the EGIF is raising funds in stages and will probably seek to back several projects at once. EGIF said in their press release "once a track record has been established and further fundraising completed, EGIF will extend its funding offering to the more expensive and lucrative PC and console games market, which cost as much as S10-15 million and several years to develop."
Has the devkit program produced any results? Or is that not an issue in the world of corporate welfare?