Are you a game developer in India? The United Nations is looking to fund your video game

With killer events, game jams galore, and even a chance at global critical acclaim, now is as good a time as any to be a game developer in India. And it just got better. The United Nations is looking to fund game developers in the country.

The initiative has the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) Gaming Forum and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (UNESCO MGIEP) partnering in a hunt for studios and developers in the nation.

(See: Know video games? India’s only game developer conference needs you)

The objective is to not only engage users on a recreational level, but also to highlight the “interdependency between [peace and sustainability] as well as how individual actions and choices have an impact on the overall picture and our shared world”.

Sounds like a mouthful? Perhaps even too deep to be a game? Rest assured that’s not the case. To allay your fears the NASSCOM Gaming Forum will be having orientation programs in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai on September 18, September 19, and October 1 respectively.

After this, studios and developers have one month to develop a prototype for a game to be pitched to UNESCO MGIEP and the jury at Nasscom Game Developer Conference 2014. If selected you can expect seed funding to make your game a reality. This would be in the range of $16,550 to $33,000. You’ll also be working closely with UNESCO to publish the game as well.

Details for the orientation sessions are as follows:

• Bangalore: September 18 between 3 PM – 5 PM. Location: Dhruva Interactive, 276/90/k, 18th cross road, HSR Layout, 3rd sector, Sector 3, HSR Layout, Bangalore.
• Hyderabad: September 19, between 3 PM- 5 PM. Location: NASSCOM, Maximus Towers 2B, Raheja Mindspace, Hi Tech City, Hyderabad.
• Mumbai: October 1. Location and timing to be announced later.

It’s great to see that an organization like the UN has recognized video games as a means of getting its messages across. It’s also encouraging that it has called on Indian developers to lead the way. While the exact commercial details of this endeavour are unclear at the moment, the sheer publicity brought in by the UN’s involvement make this initiative hard to resist for local talent.

It would be interesting to see what games might emerge from this, something that we’ll be keeping a keen eye on. So, will you be taking part?

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