A government-commissioned independent review of the UK's creative industries has called for £23.7 million to be invested in the UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser programs over the next five years.
The review was conducted by ITV chair Sir Peter Bazalgette. It studies what can be improved across all creative industries in the country, including TV, film, theatre, and video games.
It points out that the funding available to video game developers mostly comprises of the £4.2 million awarded to the UK Games Fund for 2015-2019. Bazalgette warns that while this is helping strengthen the industry, it just isn't enough.
The UK Games Fund has instead drawn up a proposal for a new £23.7 million investment which would deliver a GVA of around £106 million. The money would be used both to fund new developers and micro-studios, but also continue its Tranzfuser program for student developers.
More money
"Whilst the Games Fund/Tranzfuser has been extremely well received and highly successful in terms of impacting on early-stage games businesses, under its current funding constraints and the operating model agreed with government the Fund has to turn down many good quality applications and is also unable to address some additional ongoing funding problems in games development," says the report.
One of the key things an increased investment would do is provide support for studios during development, particularly those in the £50,000 - £30 million funding gap. This would lower the risk of investment and ensure the growth of IP in the UK, according to the report.
As well as directly increasing investment, the report recommends the government improve education on the types of careers available in the industry. It also makes a number of other suggestions, such as a games equivalent to the BFI. You can read the full report here.
Similar proposals have been made by UK games trade body TIGA in the past, including a new Video Games Investment Fund. The body also wants to increase the number of staff in the games industry by nearly 5,000 people.
