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Hothead's DeathSpank Given Canadian Grant
by Chris Remo, Leigh Alexander
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August 7, 2009
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Canadian government funding can play a key role in the success of independent studios, and new Gamasutra-obtained data from Telefilm Canada, that nation's federal cultural industry agency, details the extent of such funding for key indie games.
Most notably, Telefilm awarded Hothead Games' DeathSpank, the latest project from acclaimed Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert, one of the highest amounts ever given to a video game project: an impressive $536,069 from the Canada New Media Fund. The maximum amount that can be awarded in a fiscal year is $550.000.
Fez, Polytron Corporation's IGF prize-winning 2D/3D platform game award winner, recently confirmed for a release on Xbox Live Arcade in 2010, also received $73,682 from the cultural agency, which funds games alongside TV and film projects.
Searching back further in the agency's records, Klei Entertainment’s well received XBLA title Eets: Chowdown, the follow-up to its Eets: Hunger. It’s Emotional, was partially funded by Telefilm. It received $70,238, while the original Eets for PC received $90,000.
In the past, indie developer Metanet also received Canadian government funding for the making of Slick Entertainment's N+, and in their Gamasutra-reprinted Indie Games Summit postmortem for the title explained the way the grants work: they must be repaid from a game's profit -- but if a game does not end up making money, there is no repayment involved.
Though the grants are classified as "repayable advances," there are steps a developer can take to lessen its financial obligation. For example, including both English- and French-language options in the game will reduce the requisite payback amount by 10 percent.
These examples demonstrate Canada's continued attempts to nurture the game biz closely -- this Canada-wide program complements other local tax- and incentive-based programs that have seen major studios from Electronic Arts and Eidos set up in Montreal, as well as Ubisoft's expansion into Toronto.
[UPDATE: Although listed as receiving the funding, Jason DeGroot, musician for Fez, wrote in Gamasutra's comments: "To further clarify, Fez only received prototype/pre-production funding last year in 2008. Unfortunately, Telefilm decided to pull the carpet from beneath our feet for 2009."
"It should also be noted that the Canadian New Media Fund will be merged with the Canadian Television Fund in 2010, forcing all forms of media (tv/film/intreactive) to compete for the same funding."]
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Is this saying that they they're supposed to repay, but don't really, or is it meant to say that there is no repayment involved if they don't end up being successful enough?
Unwilling to consider if that makes my games less than totally awesome.
Also, I've never applied for funding (it's not for the feint of heart).
I'm keeping it real. There are many like me. We are legion.
In my case, lack of funding means I work full time building large scale corporate web sites.
That's 50+ hours a week not working on my games.
Some might argue that's the reason my games are less than totally awesome,
but again they ARE totally awesome so I don't know what they (or you) are talking about.
Given the proven track record and exposure of Fez (IGF Winner),
DeathSpank (Penny Arcade Adventures), and N (ultra successful flash game),
I think the government is extremely smart ensuring they stay focused on creating games,
rather than work on other things unlikely to be international successes.
i.e. large scale corporate web sites
It's a decent gamble and the return on investment for Canada will be fantastic.
It should also be noted that the Canadian New Media Fund will be merged with the Canadian Television Fund in 2010, forcing all forms of media (tv/film/intreactive) to compete for the same funding.
- Ryan