Screen Australia has today announced that the Australian government will be pledging $6 million over the next three years to 10 different independent game studios, amid recent reports showing the decline in the local gaming industry for revenue and employment.

Over the recent years international publishers have vacated the Australian gaming industry in favour of territories offering greater incentives and lower business costs. This has resulted in the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting employments levels falling from 1431 to 581 people between 2011 and 2012, a staggering near 60 percent drop.

“Given that game development is the fastest growing sector of the worldwide audiovisual market from a consumer perspective, Australian developers should share in the $80 billion global market,” Screen Australia’s Chief Operating Officer Fiona Cameron said today.

The $6 million government funding will go to the following 10 Australian indie studios:

Defiant Development (QLD)

ODD Games (SA)

Soap Creative (NSW)

Tantalus Media (VIC)

Tin Man Games (VIC)

Torus Games (VIC)

Twiitch (VIC)

Uppercut Games (NSW/ACT)

The Voxel Agents (VIC)

Wicked Witch Software (VIC)

Cameron also revealed that those who have gained the $6 million funding are a mix of small to large companies, and will be able to utilise the funding to create "an expansion in the workforce, allowing smaller developers to gain critical mass and larger developers to shift from a reliance on work for hire to developing original projects." You can read more on each of the studios at Screen Australia's official website.