When it comes to funding innovation and creativity, these sites have their critics but are undeniably an excellent form of online natural selection. Those who want a cash injection for their gaming business are often better off turning to crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter. If, as we are regularly led to believe by the online gaming press, the UK is home to world-leading, successful games companies and unrivalled creative talent, then why are these industry representatives touting for government subsidies? Surely the home of such memorable and successful titles as Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, Lego Star Wars, Elite, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Operation Flashpoint and others is capable of developing and sustaining a lucrative worldwide presence without help from the state?Īnother recent and probably unnecessary initiative seeks to raise awareness about the creative companies operating in the UK by getting them to display a “made in creative UK” logo on their website, even though industry experts agree that consumers are far more likely to be influence by content than provenance when choosing a product. My initial reaction to these claims is confusion. They also claim that the government needs to be much more proactive, supporting the industry with sizeable grants and tax breaks. There have been numerous examples in the recent past of representatives from well-known UK games companies appearing on TV or in the press claiming that the sector is essential for the future prosperity of the UK. So I’m passionate, but also very sceptical. I have also witnessed the ploughing of substantial amounts of taxpayers’ money into so-called centres of excellence in the digital technology and gaming domains, but have, as yet, seen very little real-world impact and no real evidence of this situation changing in the near future. In my 27 years in this field, I have lived through a good number of government attempts to stimulate innovation. But is fostering talent enough to establish and sustain a business, let alone a countrywide sector? And is it really possible to develop a credible “prototype service or application” for £25,000, excluding VAT?ĭon’t get me wrong, I passionately believe in what the future holds for the computer gaming industry. Attracted not so much for the “rich” financial rewards, but for the potential kudos of being able to trial their solutions with some of the big names underpinning the competition – organisations including Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Crytek UK, ODEON Cinemas and Pinewood Studios.Ĭompetitions are all well and good, and certainly help to attract new blood into the industry, including talented developers previously confined to bedrooms and garages (which is, after all, where the leaders of many of the “big” names in UK games originated). No doubt some of the 113 games studios that have set up shop in the UK over the past year or so will be attracted to such an initiative. The competition requires entrants to develop these prototypes to support a range of applications, from “open street maps” to “games and cinema”. The competition promises “investment” of up to £25,000 (excluding VAT) for five businesses that can demonstrate “innovative commercial prototypes” meeting a number of “broad objectives”, defined by TSB in conjunction with industry partners. The UK government’s Technology Strategy Board has announced (and not for the first time) that it’s putting its weight behind the creative media sector, this time by way of a competition designed to encourage digital innovation in the games sector.
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