They are tucked away safely in their homes, but the people at VAF/GAME are working at full speed right now. The final commissions were held late last week and earlier today the results of the first submission call of the year were already announced. We’ll get back to those, but first we want to highlight this important survey (link in Dutch) to provide VAF/GAME with valuable feedback on their methods and procedures.

They are constantly looking to update their procedures to make them as efficient as possible (within the limits of the management agreement) so the more feedback they gather, the better they will be able to tune their operation to the specifics of our beloved industry. So please chime in and take some time to fill out the survey (link in Dutch) before April 14.

Now, on to the projects who managed to secure funding this time around!

Pre-production

• MoonMonster Studios received € 50.000 for their fantasy management game Guild Manager (entertainment game)

Production

• While the finishing touches on The Almost Gone are still drying, Happy Volcano managed to secure € 35.000 for Katie (serious game)
• After succesfully obtaining pre-production support in 2018, Stacka managed to reel in € 175.000 for the production of Replaceable (entertainment game), a narrative driven robot adventure directed by Hans Van Nuffel.
• That’s the same amount Cybernetic Walrus are getting for the production of their strategic deck building roguelike Rise of Humanity (entertainment game).

Promotion

• There’s no doubt Rise of Humanity will launch into a competitive market place so the commission locks and loads the game with an extra € 35.000 worth of promotion support to put up its defenses.
• There’s also back to back success for 3D Aim Trainer, who are getting € 50.000 to further promote their earlier supported online training platform for first-person shooters.
• Last but not least promising VR cat and mouse game Panoptic secured € 25.000 to succesfully make the jump from early access to full release.

In light of the recent events VAF/GAME has also taken special COVID-19 measures (link in Dutch) to strengthen our local games industry during these difficult times. For instance, newly approved projects now will get 5% of the support sum immediately, so they’re better armed to seek further funding and are better prepared for production.

Congratulations to all the projects getting funding. Here’s hoping you’ll all be able to put that money to make and promote some amazing games. If your game didn’t make it this time: next call is June 23! Maybe we’ll even be allowed to leave the house again by then?