Greg Dziemidowicz (VR Regatta) & the return of the Aus Interactive Games Fund

How do you translate the essentially visceral experience of taking to the sea into the world of VR? Well Greg Dziemidowicz is Director and Lead Programmer at Melbourne's MarineVerse and along with his crew of sailing VR developers have done just that. It's not just for people who sail regularly but it also allows those people who can't sail to enjoy the experience. VR Regatta is out now and has just released it's big arctic sailing map expansion. There is a big federal election happening and for YEARS government support for Australian game development support hasn't been on the agenda. The opposition Labor Party have announced a big $25m reinstatement of the Australian Interactive Games Fund (AIGF), the Australian Greens want to put $100m into the industry. The original run of the AIGF was cut short when the Liberal-National Government came to power but not before funding a number of well known studios were able to access the fund like Defiant Development, Tin Man Games, SMG Studio and Black Lab Games. We discuss what this will mean if the funding is reinstated if there is a change of government! Pixel Sift is produced by Scott Quigg, Sarah Ireland, Fiona Bartholomaeus & Mitch Loh. Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Salty Dog Sounds for some of our promo music this week. SPONSOR: Thank you to Murdoch University School of Arts for their support over every single episode of Pixel Sift. We couldn't have done it without you. If you want to bolster your skills in media, journalism or game development, check out the Murdoch University School of Arts website for more information! You can find us on social media, Discord, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Steam. Just search for "pixelsift"Support the show: https://sifter.store