Rockfish Games has landed an €8 million grant from the German government — the largest single award from the country's newly expanded €125 million games fund — to bankroll the next entry in the Everspace franchise. The Hamburg-based studio will receive the money over five years through the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) program launched in 2020.

The funding covers nearly 45% of development costs for the next Everspace title, which carries a €20 million budget. The program itself offers grants ranging from €300,000 to €8 million per project, covering up to 50% of production and prototype development costs. Everspace 2: Wrath of the Ancients, released in 2023, was also partially funded by the BMFTR.

CEO and co-founder Michael Schade said the grant lets the studio stay independent. "This means we can maintain our status as a fully independent developer and publisher of our own titles while self-funding the remaining portion of the project's cost," he told GamesIndustry.biz.

How did Rockfish win the maximum award?

A working prototype proved decisive. "As we went through the grant submission process, we were simultaneously working on the prototype for our next project," Schade said. "This prototype played a key role in securing such a substantial grant by demonstrating our team's ambition and technical capability through the introduction of several brand-new features to the Everspace series."

Rockfish submitted a quarterly milestone plan overseen by DLR Projektträger (DLR-PT), Germany's national research centre, which monitors the developer's progress. Schade praised the oversight, describing conversations with policymakers and coordinators as "at the same level as a top-tier publisher or platform holder" and citing "good feedback and intelligent questions about our production process and timeline that showed experience and understanding of the industry."

What does the money change for the studio?

The grant gives Rockfish long-term stability as it grows from a small into a mid-sized studio, funding raises, team training, marketing, and operations. The studio added ten team members in the past six months — a mix of full-time employees and experienced co-dev developers — and Schade stressed a deliberate onboarding pace to preserve studio culture. The funding also pays to upskill existing staff, which he says will show up in an improved cinematic process in the next game.

Independence remains the core payoff. "Independence allows us to make choices that best fit the studio and team, react to fans' wants and market needs faster, and create a title that is closest to our vision," Schade said. He ruled out an immediate pivot into multiple titles or cross-media expansion, but said the funding lets the studio consider those possibilities later. Staying at the forefront of new technology, he added, "strengthens our position to negotiate better deals, secure stronger platform visibility, and continue to represent Germany as one of the premier developers of space games worldwide."

What about Game Pass and Early Access?

Without the grant, Rockfish would not have faced collapse, but it would have faced compromises. "Crowdfunding, working with a publisher, exploring funding sources from outside the industry, or simply making a smaller title could have been on the table," Schade said. "We would not have been in dire straits; it was a crossroads for the project and the studio, where compromises would have been necessary."

Both earlier Everspace games launched via crowdfunding. Schade also credited Xbox Game Pass with supporting Everspace 2's "production runway," enabling more content and polish across platforms. Game Pass's role in the next project remains undecided, though the studio cites a strong relationship with Xbox. Early Access "has been an incredibly important part of our development process," and Schade can "hardly imagine" skipping it next time.

Why does Schade back AA over AAA?

Schade argues Germany's ecosystem — dense in mobile, indie, and AA studios — benefits from the fund's focus on small and mid-sized teams. "Government support creates a space where small and mid-sized companies can begin and thrive," he said. He believes the grant program will deliver a direct financial return by incubating studios that create high-paying jobs, develop new technology, and showcase German creativity globally.

He also framed the approval requirements as an advantage: the process "pushes teams to plan more efficiently, setting projects up for greater success," and criteria such as minimum investment size, team experience, and cultural requirements should yield a higher commercial and artistic success rate. While local industry voices want a German AAA studio to take root, Schade — admitting bias — contends that AA's lower investment cost and creative flexibility make it the stronger focus, and the grant program aligns with that.

The next test of the program's reach comes as the expanded €125 million annual fund continues distributing awards to qualifying German studios, with Rockfish's five-year milestone plan now under DLR-PT supervision.