Failbetter Games, developer of the game Sunless Sea have launched a new funding process for indie game developers making small narrative-driven or interaction fiction games.
Called Fundbetter, the developers explained how it'd be working in a blog post:
"We want to pay our luck forward, and support game designers and writers from all kinds of backgrounds: first-timers, veteran game makers, LGBT+ and black and minority ethnic creators, people whose backgrounds are in linear fiction, theatre, radio, TV and film. We’re open-minded on the meaning of ‘narrative’ and ‘game,’ though we’re most excited by text-centric projects. Your idea could be a game with a strong linear storyline; a choice-based narrative using Twine or a similar technology; a piece of parser-based interactive fiction; a card game where story emerges from the mechanics; or a dozen other things we haven’t thought of."
The funding currently sits at between £2K to £20K, but Failbetter say that they'd go higher for a promising project, especially if the project matches the funding through other means such as Kickstarter. The sorts of games they're hoping to help out are mainly low-cost, text-based games - but they're not limiting themselves to just those types of games.
As for what Failbetter get out of it, they'll receive 50% of the game's revenue until the initial investment has been recouped. After that they'll only be taking 20%m leaving the rest for the funded indie to use to update or patch their game, or even move onto the next one. Of course, Failbetter also need to be credited within the game as an investor as well, so there's also exposure involved. Any idea that doesn't make back the initial funding aren't tied into anything either.
Interested parties should take a look over on the Failbetter announcement for details on how you can get yourself involved and apply for the funding.