We are excited to announce that Grant for the Web has awarded the IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F) a $505K USD grant to create a Diverse Game Developers Fund (DGDF) distributing more than $300,000 to marginalized game developers and students around the world. The program will help developers explore web monetization options with global applicability as an alternative to relying on traditional models of revenue generation built by and for a western audience.
The Diverse Game Developers Fund will grant at least $200,000 directly to independent developers and studios for expanding on prototypes, with $50,000 earmarked for academic scholarships and remaining funds used as cash prizes for game jams. Applications for prototype funding and academic scholarships open today and run through March 15, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. PT.
A steering committee including former Microsoft game publishing vice president Edward Fries, Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail, WINGS Interactive chief executive officer Cassia Curran, Patreon head of policy Laurent Crenshaw, Game Jolt CEO Yaprak DeCarmine, Shark Tank consultant Brandon Andrews, former Crystal Dynamics lead producer Shana Bryant, Games and Learning CTO Mark DeLoura, HBCU direct gaming CEO Rod Chappell, former PAX content director Guy “Yug” Blomberg, and others to be announced will oversee the fund.
The steering committee will ensure the fund operates in accordance with both IGDA-F’s overall mission of furthering diversity and inclusion within the games industry as well as the initiative’s specific goals. In partnership with the Higher Education Video Game Alliance, the DGDF will enlist a team of academics to review student pitches and award international academic scholarships.
"This collaboration with IGDA-F shows there’s potential to decentralize privilege in creative industries like gaming,” said Briana Marbury, executive director of the Interledger Foundation which runs Grant for the Web. “Innovators from diverse backgrounds have historically been excluded as leaders in emergent technologies, and it's our hope to change that. Through business models based on open standards and distributed ownership, we're striving to ensure all voices are heard and contribute to the efforts of advancing Web Monetization."
"Grant for the Web and the IGDA Foundation both seek to empower devs and users in the realm of technology," said Nika Nour, executive director, IGDA-F. "In a world where traditional investment funding isn’t equally available to all, this initiative will allow us to support marginalized game developers around the globe while educating the community on alternative monetization models they may not have considered.”
To check eligibility status and apply to the Diverse Game Developers Fund, head over to the application website. For more info, follow @IGDAFoundation on Twitter and the IGDA Foundation Facebook page for the latest updates.
About IGDA Foundation
The IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F) advances a diverse workforce and ecosystem for the video game industry to better reflect the millions of passionate players enjoying video games worldwide.
The IGDA-F focuses on promoting a game development community representative of, and welcoming and inclusive to, every person who wants to make games. The IGDA-F garners support for diversity and inclusion in the video game industry with initiatives such as its IGDA Scholars, Velocity, and Next Gen Leaders programs, with others in the pipeline.
The IGDA Foundation is a public charity, registered as a 501(c)3 organization in the United States.
To find out more about the IGDA Foundation’s initiatives visit http://igdafoundation.org.
Top comments (2)
Such exciting news! Congrats to the IGDA Foundation. We are excited to see what they are able to accomplish with these funds.
I hope to see many cool game prototypes and unique ways of implementing Web Monetization into them!