At its most recent funding meeting, the Film and Media Foundation awarded ten games with around €660,000 and four projects in the pilot programme Serious Games/Gamification with just under €150,000.

The serious games/gamification projects demonstrate how broad the range of applications for interactive media is, even beyond entertainment. The four funded projects include two prototype applications and two concept applications, covering topics ranging from knowledge transfer related to blockchain to speech exercises for Parkinson's patients.

However, the classic games that received funding also cover a wide range of genres, from puzzle games and adventure games to multiplayer co-op games. The ten projects include one concept, seven prototypes and two production grants. A total of €662,400 was approved for the ten games and €147,000 for the four serious games projects.

Particular attention should be paid to the project with the working title Livestream, which is included in the prototype funding this time. On the one hand, the concept has already been supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, and on the other hand, the studio is taking an unusual approach in which the world and characters are first created using model-making techniques and then digitised. The project is also backed by Cologne-based studio Slow Bros., which has received numerous nominations and awards, including at international game competitions, for Harold Halibut.

All funding decisions at a glance
Concept Funding
  • Minitorio Spellfusion (Cologne): 20.000 Euro
Prototype Funding
  • Livestream (Working Title) Slow Bros (Cologne): 80.000 Euro
  • Supernatural Sushi Spoondrift Games (Bergisch-Gladbach): 80.000 Euro
  • Echoes of the Buried Daniel Anthony Konstantinidis (Frechen): 64.194 Euro
  • Animal Sanctuary Alves, Jansen, Rössig & Zimmer (Cologne): 80.000 Euro
  • Poison is Served! Proto Games Lab (Cologne): 79.206 Euro
  • Hollow Glow minty mode (Cologne): 50.000 Euro
  • HeroTail Survivor Maximilian Ritters (Pulheim): 24.000 Euro
Production Funding
  • The White Saboteur Actrio Studio (Cologne): 40.000 Euro
  • Blueprint Burglary Goon Squad (Düren): 145.000 Euro
Serious Game/Gamification Funding
  • Crypto Investigator Neptun Interactive Serious Game (Cologne): 62.640 Euro
  • Bau dein Gerüst! Serious VR Game für Azubis im Bauwesen XRbit (Dortmund): 50.000 Euro
  • Spielerisches Training der Alltagssprache für Parkinson-Erkrankte Ingenious Knowledge (Cologne): 19.814 Euro
  • Black Gold TriTec Entertainment (Castrop-Rauxel): 12.620 Euro

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Written by

Stephan Steininger
Stephan Steininger
Stephan is Editor in Chief