It’s hard to find funding if you’re making a video game — particularly if you’re an independent developer aiming at a “core” audience. Most accelerators aim at apps; the few that accept games skew towards mobile and casual.
The Core Labs Game Accelerator may change that for you; the program is looking for devs who want to make the next FTL or Bastion, not Candy Crush Saga.
It’s a six-month program that offers office space, hardware, mentorship, marketing support and more — and it’s backed by major publishing partners including Nvidia and Japan’s largest mobile service provider NTT Docomo, and a major console platform holder (name so far undisclosed.)
The program is also sponsored by the likes of Unity, Leap Motion, Amazon, WB Games, and more — and it draws its mentors from the game industry, including industry stalwarts like former Sega CEO Tom Kalinske and former EA exec, Kleiner Perkins’ Bing Gordon — as well as indies like Kitfox Games’ Tanya X. Short and Glass Bottom Games’ Megan Fox.
Applications for the first class of the program, which begins July 1, are now open — and close May 31. The class will accept 10 on-site startups (the offices of GSVlabs, which is running the program, are based in the San Francisco Bay Area) and 10 remote studios, too.
Developers working on games for any platform, including console, PC, mobile, and VR are welcome to apply; team sizes of less than 10 are considered optimal for the program.
The program is free to participants, but developers agree to giving GSVlabs a 10 percent revenue share on the game on its release, and 2 percent equity in their studio.
Interested? You can find out more and apply at the GSVlabs Core Accelerator site. And if you’re not ready for the first class, Gamasutra has been told that the plan is to keep on running classes indefinitely.