AEDA offers sponsorships to gaming studios located across the City of Adelaide to help them tap into the sector on a global level.

These sponsorships provide practical financial support to attend trade conferences to pitch to investors and distributors, as well as develop commercial opportunities. Examples of events include Games Connect Asia Pacific-GCAP (Melbourne), Penny Arcade Expo-PAX (Melbourne), Game Developers Conference (San Francisco) and Gamescom (Cologne).

Sponsorship of up to $2000 can help cover the following expenses:

• Economy Flights (not accommodation)
• Ticket costs to conference/trade show
• Preparation of marketing materials that directly related to the conference and pitch e.g. trade booth, design of marketing collateral for pitch.

Where relevant, it is expected funds will compliment support programs offered by other agencies, such as South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) and Australian Government. Preference will be given to businesses who have a game under development and are ready to begin discussions with distributors.

SAFC offers a range of support programs for the South Australian game development sector. The SA Video Game Development Rebate (SA VGD Rebate) gives developers an opportunity to claim 10 per cent on some costs incurred as part of a project. A minimum of $250,000 must be spent and retained in South Australia to meet requirements.

The Australian Government offers a Digital Games Tax Offset as part of its Digital Economy Strategy that aims to strengthen the games industry. The DGTO is a 30 per cent refundable tax offset for eligible business that spend a minimum of $500,000 to develop digital games.

AEDA is proud to be the major sponsor of the leading meet up for industry professionals, emerging developers, and students. Held every two months, the Adelaide Game Developers group (AGD) host UNWIND sessions every two months as a gateway to the SA Games Industry. UNWIND attracts industry professionals from local studios, skilled contractors, visitors from interstate, recent graduates, along with attendees from adjoining industries such as finance, legal, film, technology and government. UNWIND is the only meet up where all these sectors connect with a common goal of discussing how South Australian developers can keep moving forward with the latest technology on offer. Find out more.

AEDA works closely with partners such as the Department of Trade and Investment to attract and support new games development studios to Adelaide, including AAA ‘top grade’ global firms.

This support includes providing information to inform business cases, site selection, reinforcing Adelaide’s unique selling proposition and introductions to the city’s vibrant gaming ecosystem.

After firms decide to locate to Adelaide, AEDA can provide a Welcome to Adelaide kit — an initiative designed to welcome new workers to the city. Welcome to Adelaide offers a range of introductory offers and discounts to help new workers engage with the city, as well as information to assist with talent attraction.

Through Welcome to Adelaide, AEDA has assisted more than 700 workers move into the city, including those from big names such as Perks Accountants and Wealth Advisors and Accolade Wines.