Just announced at the NEXUS Games Summit by Imirt Board Member, Elaine Dowman, six incredible teams have been awarded the first stage of the Irish Games Fund. We’re delighted to say that the six teams are:
Dreamfeel
ENIGMA Studio
Mystic Systems
Outlier
Pewter Games Studios
Psychic Games
The Irish Games Fund, developed in partnership with Screen Ireland, is a first-of-its-kind games fund for Ireland, giving developers the support they need to validate, develop and deliver their project. Stage one of the Irish Games Fund offers developers €8,000 for project validation, allowing them to execute on ideas that may have previously been out of reach. This staged accelerator fund will invest a total of €200,000 into successful teams as they progress through stages 2 and 3.
These amazing projects come from some of the best talent has to offer. Here’s a word from the six teams that were awarded stage one.
“We’re delighted to have received stage 1 funding for a new game which we are prototyping. This funding has enabled us to explore art directions with an experienced artist from the TV/animation sector.”
- Sam Redfern
“We’re delighted to be among the recipients of the first stage of the Irish Games Fund, which will allow us to take a leap forward in the concept and prototype phase of an exciting new project!”
- Christoper Conlon
"We're delighted to be awarded the Irish Games Fund! It is a critical support for expanding our team in Dublin and leveraging Irish talent to create new, innovative games for a global audience. We can't wait to get started on an exciting new prototype and will be revealing the game to the world in 2026!"
- Paul Froggatt
"I was beyond thrilled simply when the Irish Games Fund was announced. For generations Irish talent has emigrated to create video games elsewhere: commercial megahits like No Man's Sky, PUBG or The Room, as well as cultural touchstones like VVVVVV, Slave of God or 10 Beautiful Postcards. I applaud everyone involved in recognizing the rewards we will have when we create them here!
On a personal note I'm honoured that Dreamfeel was selected in this first cohort with Project Carrownagh. It's an ambitious 3d game set that's particularly Irish, set in the bogs and hills of Connacht, but it's also a game that with a little help from the fund will bring our island to the world (nb: we made all the characters cats, because everyone likes cute cats right?).
- Llaura McGee
The Irish Games Fund had an incredibly competitive pool of applicants, and we’d like to thank all of the teams for putting themselves and their projects forward. We would like to see all of these projects come to fruition in the future, and we hope to see these teams continue to apply to further initiatives.
We’d like to thank Ardán for their continued support of the Irish Games Fund as a part of the shared Digital Games Portfolio, and we’d like to thank Screen Ireland for continuing to support the Irish Games Sector.