Digital Game Development Grant

• Completed application form
• Budget template and cashflow sheet
• Project financing structure
• Supporting documents for budget line items over $500
• Playable demo, prototype, or gameplay capture for production stream projects

Who is eligible?

• Individuals
• Corporations
• Eligible Saskatchewan creative industry applicants
• Digital game developers
• eLearning creators with gamified projects

Who is not eligible

• Political organizations or parties
• Religious organizations
• Organizations that discriminate on protected grounds
• Organizations advocating political or religious beliefs
• Projects developed exclusively for corporate use

Eligible expenses

• Development costs for digital games and eLearning properties
• Pre-production materials, prototypes, demos, MVPs, and vertical slices
• Marketing expenses directly related to the project, up to 10% of the total project budget
• Technology infrastructure, including hardware and software
• Eligible labour and contracted services directly tied to the project

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Casino-type games with real or simulated gambling
• Commissioned projects
• Core business operations and capital costs like rent or real estate
• Projects developed exclusively for corporate use
• Travel to conferences or markets
• Projects with mostly non-gamified content

Eligible geographic areas

• Saskatchewan

• Creative, design, and technical quality
• Marketing strategy and target market reach
• Team experience and skill alignment
• Studio vision and project fit
• Saskatchewan spend and financial viability

• Read the General Guidelines and the guidelines specific to the program you are applying for.
• Book a consultation with a Program Advisor if you need support or have a draft ready for review.
• Navigate to https://creativesask.smartsimple.ca/ and log in to GMS.
• First-time GMS users must create a profile; individuals may create one at any time, even before the grant opens, and businesses must email gms@creativesask.ca so an account can be created for them.
• Go to Templates & Additional Materials, select Digital Game Development, open Application Templates, and download the budget for the current fiscal year.

• Applications are first checked internally for eligibility and completeness.
• Eligible files are reviewed through an external assessment process.
• Applicants receive results by email and through the grant management system.
• If approved, a formal Letter of Commitment is issued and must be signed, and final payment is released after the final report is approved.
• After submitting an application on GMS, edits and additions can only be made at the discretion of a Program Officer.

• Templates are updated annually, so use the most up-to-date version available.
• Save your application regularly because inactivity can cause progress to be lost.
• GMS is not designed for use with mobile devices; use a desktop or laptop computer.
• If you use a Mac, submit a PDF version of the Excel budget template because Numbers documents cannot be opened.