Scottish studio bags £750k funding to self-publish

Dundee-based studio Earthbound Games has been awarded £750,000 in funding to help the young studio self-publish a new PC tile. The funds came from a number of individuals, with no individual or entity singled out as having provided substantially more than another.

Earthbound Games is headed up by Chris Stamp, previously of DMA Design and Realtime Worlds – among others – whose work stretches across titles like Wild Metal Country, Crackdown, and APB. Funding secured will go towards work on Axiom Soccer, said to be a mix of Rocket League and… well, guns, launching at some point next year.

Speaking with the Scotsman, Stamp said the approach avoiding publishers was intentional: “We’ve put the publishers to the back of the equation with Axiom Soccer. That’s allowed us to take a truly player-first approach and connect the development of the game with our community.”

Board director Neil Heywood agreed this wasn’t a traditional route to getting high-end PC games up and out the door: “But if you’ve got a great game,” he continued, “There’s an opportunity to create a community, by communicating directly with the players. With Axiom Soccer, we’re doing something new with our approach to funding and publishing, and with some of the interactive features we’re developing.

“That’s meant we could attract support from a number of backers who are already involved with and enthusiastic about the industry. We all believe that Axiom Soccer is going to be a great success.”