In these tough times, cash money reserves have dried up. It's the same the world over, and the games industry is no different. Especially if you're a start-up.
According to Games Investor Consulting director Nick Gibson "In the last four or five months there has been a collapse in venture capital and, more broadly, private equity funding for privately-held games companies". These aren't the big, publicly-owned companies like Activision or EA we're talking about. These are the new guys, the small guys, the ones that rely on big cash investments to get up and running.
Gibson says things are so bad for the little guys that, according to Gibson's research, "private funding for games companies" is down a whopping 60% from the same time last year.
So if you've got a great idea for a new game, and you and your buddies want some cash to get things started, you might want to hold off for a year or two. That or start saving.
Funds and Games [Develop]