Creative England launches £1 million support program for developers in South West England

Investment agency Creative England has announced GamesLab South West - a £1 million program designed to help emerging and established games companies from England's bottom-left corner. In totally unrelated news, I'm proud to announce my new development studio: 'Can I Have Some Money Please Productions'. Now I just need to think up an idea for a game. And learn how to make a game.

If you're both in the geographically relevant part of the country, and boast the ability to make a game, you're in a much better chance of securing support than me. The project - Creative England's first dedicated gaming grant - is being funded by the European Regional Development Find, and supported by the Government's Regional Growth Fund. The investment programme will include direct funding, as well as workshops and business advice.

"The UK video game industry is already at the forefront of both technical and creative excellence with British studios creating some of the most popular video games titles in the world," says Jaspal Sohal, Creative England's Head of Games & Digital Media. "Creative England GamesLab will help the next generation of games developers take advantage of this growing market and support them in reaching their commercial and creative potential."

Developers can apply for grants from £10,000 to £50,000 for games that will be completed no later than October 15th, 2014. The closing date for applications is mid-day September 16, 2013. For more details, head to the GamesLab website .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.