Irish Games Fund 2026

The Irish Games Fund 2026 announcement, published by IMIRT in September 2026, sets out the rules and timetable for the Development Fund, the first of three funding strands under the Irish Games Fund, which is delivered through the Screen Ireland Digital Games Portfolio. The Development Fund offers up to €50,000 each to four teams developing original intellectual property, targeting projects that have moved past concept validation and are progressing toward production and commercial release. The fund is explicitly competitive with limited places, and applicants must first complete an Expression of Interest, with the deadline set for October 8, 2026, before receiving the full application form.

Eligibility requires applicants to be registered Irish game studios that have operated for at least one year, filed accounts, and previously released a commercial project, with a defined concept or prototype and a clear understanding of audience and development needs. The timetable specifies that application forms will be issued from September 30 and close on October 22, 2026, and an external grant-writing workshop was scheduled for October 9.

A notable component of the announcement is its policy on generative AI. Applicants are not penalised for prior AI use but must disclose any machine learning or generative tools used across the project and application, identify AI-generated assets, and explain how support will replace them with human-created work. The Development Fund will not support projects intending to commercially release with substantially AI-generated creative assets, citing unresolved copyright and ownership risks. Reader comments raised concerns about the application burden relative to the grant size for smaller studios, and about a broken partner link.