Develop: The UK games industry in a global context

A pretty star-studded line-up of industry luminaries were arrayed in front of your humble reporter, who was slumped at the back of the room, furiously tapping away at the keys.

The 'committee' was David Braben of Frontier, Ian Livingstone of Eidos, Sarah Chudley of Bizarre Creations, Richard Wilson of Tiga and Chris Deering of Codemasters.

They are fronting the Games Up? campaign, designed to lobby for the interests of the British games industry, which has faced a number of major challenges over the past couple of years.

The UK has the highest development cost per staff member in the world. Quebec has a forecasted 25 per cent growth for its games industry, while the UK has a three per cent forecasted decline.

There are also record closures of development companies in the UK, while other places are showing rapid growth.

However, British games still have a good reputation for quality; the industry is projected to generate £4 billion between 2006 and 2008. It also had more than twice the revenue per staff member compared to the British film industry in 2007.

Ian Livingstone, he of the Fighting Fantasy books and Eidos fame, said Canada, which is offering subsidies for games companies to set up there, is one of the strongest competitors for the UK to match up to, and one that has moved about the UK in terms of global importance.

University education was highlighted as being very important, as long as genuine specialists are brought through, rather than 'generalists' who can't really offer anything to companies.

Livingstone said many companies would rather hire someone who had no background in games, but who could code in C++, rather than use someone from the generic, bland courses so many institutions offer.

Sarah Chudley of Bizarre Creations said the perception of the government, and people 'in powerful positions', is still regarding the games industry, as Livingstone said, as being just "one step up from pornography", because of the problem of supposed 'violence' in games.

Richard Wilson of Tiga said his organisation had been trying to engage with the government, to raise the profile of his organisation and "helping ourselves" with self regulation and so on.

While most MPs are apparently "wholly ignorant" of gaming, they are often receptive to the arguments put forward by Wilson and Tiga.

He says it is important the games industry and its lobbyists shouldn't come across as "whingers", being proactive rather than relying on 'hand-outs' or such things.

He also said Tiga was trying to put games companies in contact with universities to try to encourage talent sharing and other programmes that will aid the industry in the long-term.

Chris Deering of Codemasters said the government didn't really see the games industry as being as important as some of us within it seem to think it is. However, this is a valid point if considered from an impartial standpoint.

Beyond the educational aspect of producing industry specialists, Deering said Canada has shown the way to the 'pot of gold', putting in £400 million and getting £1.5 billion back.

In Canada, the subsidies aren't just available in Quebec, but all over the country.

Inward investment is where they are making their 'pitch', and other countries are getting in on the act. Britain seems to be getting left behind.

Ubisoft, for example, is currently expanding its operations into Morocco, Singapore, Romania and Australia, to name but a few other countries whose talent pool is being tapped and who are seeking to attract investment from such companies.

Deering believes there are many reasons to be optimistic, however. Britain is losing the most because it was so big in the first place, he says. It just needs more inward investment, somehow.

Wilson argued the government's tax credits 'solution' is worth pursuing, although it is important for the industry not to appear 'helpless'.

A major emphasis should be placed on the quality of current British games and the number of employees in the industry who are highly educated.

Deering said a potential solution could involve encouraging people just to stay in the UK, rather than going down the more aggressive road of attracting others in.

With regards to the question of whether the UK industry has grown complacent, Livingstone said there was certainly an argument that this was the case.

Braben said education before university level has failed to keep children and young people interested in programming, certainly in comparison to the time when he was starting in the industry.

Chudley agreed, saying that getting kids of seven to ten years old into the mindset of being programmers could be very important. Wilson concludes the guidance in schools was lamentable at the moment, something the government seemed to agree with.