Kid’s game wins backing from £4m government fund
LIVERPOOL company Draw & Code has won funding from the £4m UK Games Fund to take its augmented reality toy to market.
Created in Liverpool and showcased for the first time in Silicon Valley in June, SwapBots are collectible toys that use augmented reality to create an interactive video game world around a physical toy.
By swapping pieces of the SwapBots, the player can solve puzzles and influence in-game attributes. The multi-player gameplay produces battles that encourage players to swap the pieces of the Bot at the end of each round to create the ideal warrior.
The player points their phone or tablet at the SwapBot toy to see it come to life as the digital animation is overlaid onto it.
Launched by the government in October 2015 to help boost the development of the UK’s video games sector, The UK Games Fund has awarded selected developers a share of a £4m fund to help bring their products to market.
From 235 applicants, 23 winners were announced on Wednesday by Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy.
SwapBots co-founder John Keefe said: “The support of the UK Games Fund will be invaluable to SwapBots from a funding perspective, but most importantly as validation of our unique approach to this emerging space within the gaming market.
“For tech such as augmented reality to become a mainstream success it needs to be appealing and accessible, which is what we are aiming for with SwapBots.”
The Draw & Code team are now focused on continued development of SwapBots as they build to a 2017 release.
