As part of the regional strategy for culture and heritage, the Occitanie Region has decided to strengthen support for creative industries such as video games. The Region aims to foster the creative and economic dynamism of the video game sector in Occitanie by implementing a support scheme for video games to enhance the diversity of creations and consolidate the regional ecosystem and jobs. The Region provides a prototyping grant capped at €45,000 per video game project that incurs eligible expenses within the territory, amounting to at least 125% of the total public funding granted by local authorities in Occitanie.
Eligible companies, games and expenses
Eligible Beneficiaries: Development studios and/or publishers based in Occitanie and not controlled by non-European capital.
Types of Video Game: Video Games on console, mobile phone, PC, social networks, or oany distribution platform. “Pay to win games”, Mechanisms leading to abusive or addictive practices and projects containing scenes or content that could warrant a PEGI 18 rating are excluded.
Eligible expenses: Technical and artistic expertise, technical services, general expenses of the production company established in the regional territory (up to 10% of the total eligible expenses in Occitanie), and valuation of in-kind contributions from companies established in the regional territory used during the implementation of the project (up to 10% of eligible expenses in the Region).
About the Grant
Scope of the Grant: Prototyping.
Minimum Amount Granted: €9000 project (up to 50% of the total amount of expenses).
Maximum Amount Granted: Capped at €45 000 per project (up to 50% of the total amount of expenses).
Type of Support: Non-repayable grant.
Aid Subject to Minimis Rules: Yes
Open to co-productions: Yes, provided that the applicant company remains the initiator and main driver of the project.
The video game prototyping grant is a selective grant, awarded by a committee, based on on the originality of the concept, its coherence, the work’s contribution to creative diversity, regional anchoring, and the technical and financial feasibility of the projects. The Region will also pay particular attention to approaches that include protection of intellectual property rights.
Examples of games supported by the Occitanie region
- Clair Obscur : Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive
- Road 96, developed by DigixArt and published by THQ Nordic
- Haven, developed and published by The Game Bakers