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Six British game development studios have been identified for the first time as members of the new NESTA-backed publishing consortium.
The studios have each put a share of their own cash into the consortium as part of a wider plan to build a new publishing model that favours independence.
Developers Finblade, Proper Games, Niffler, Onteca, Supersonic and Lightning Fish are each stakeholders in the new initiative.
Photo evidence taken from a private presentation of the consortium, which has been published on ScottishGames.net, also shows that Andy Payne, the acting chairman of UKIE, is also a stakeholder in the new syndicate.
The collective, named AppyNation, is planning to soft-launch in a matter of months, ScottishGames.net has said.
It was initially planned that the consortium would have eight members.
According to a statement released last year, the group’s members will build their own games under the scheme and self-publish through various digital channels “outside the constraints of the traditional publisher and developer model”.
The collaboration of digital, social and independent UK developers already has the support of creative industry investment group NESTA, as well as industry associations Tiga and UKIE.
The theory is that the democratised publishing body won’t snaffle developer IP, and promises a return on investment that is more favourable for the studios.
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said that such a scheme is “exactly what the games industry needs to grow”.
Develop has contacted the companies involved for comment.
