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Aphra Kerr
STeM (Centre for Society, Technology and Media), Dublin City University, Ireland.
aphra.kerr@dcu.ie
Keywords: Industrial Innovation, digital games, clusters, political economy, Ireland.
The digital games industry is a global industry stretching from Tokyo to London and Los Angeles. Emerging from the US military - industrial complex in the late 1960s, expanding into the arcades in the 1970s and finally giving rise to consumer technologies (console, personal computer, online, handheld and mobile) in the 1990s, the digital games sector is a significant new cluster of industries based on rapid technological innovation in hardware and software, new sets of skills and competencies and complex production, publishing, distribution and retail networks. Recent figures suggest that worldwide software sales alone were worth € 14.8 billion in 2001 (Deutsche Bank, 2002) and that the industry in the US the industry is worth more than the American Box office (IDSA, 2001a; b). Europe has a strong presence in mobile hardware, software development and publishing stages of the global games industry.
Prior to 2002 Ireland experienced national economic growth rates of up to 10 percent per annum and the multinational and indigenous software and IT industries have played a significant role in driving this growth. At the same time the country has achieved a significant international reputation for its design and entertainment products. In the area of digital media the establishment of Media Lab Europe as an anchor tenant in the Digital Hub, a strategic redevelopment of the old Guinness brewery buildings in the centre of Dublin city, signals the government's belief in fostering industrial districts and clusters in order to build national competitiveness in digital media. Within this context this paper maps the key drivers and players in the digital games industry, both globally and in Ireland, in order to identify the barriers and determinants of innovation in the various sub-sectors of the industry and what lessons can be learnt.
This paper will firstly give the audience a brief overview of the global digital games industry, the key drivers, the main players and the main geographic centres of production and distribution. The paper will then examine the determinants and barriers to growth from an Irish perspective and as identified by major actors in the Irish digital games industry and the author. This discussion will be framed by drawing upon both two separate but complementary theoretical approaches, i.e. industrial innovation theories and communication theories. In particular the paper will draw upon Porter's (1998) The Competitive Advantage of Nations and Garnham, N. (2000) Emancipation, the Media and Modernity and (1990) Capitalism and Communication. Global Culture and the Economics of Information. The conclusion will evaluate the usefulness of these two theoretical approaches in understanding this industrial sector in Ireland and identify avenues for theoretical and policy intervention.
This paper is based on 15 in-depth interviews with digital game producers, publishers, retailers and policy makers in Ireland, informal discussions and attendance at international industry conferences in 2001 and 2002. A summary of these findings has already been published as a working paper by STeM (2002). The author is continuing her involvement with the industry via the establishment of an irishgamedevelopers mailing list and an online resource aimed at supporting networking in the game development industry.
References
Deutsche Bank (2002) 'The Video Games Industry. Game Over or extended play?' Deutsche Bank.
Garnham, N. (1990) Capitalism and Communication. Global Culture and the Economics
of Information: Sage, London,
Garnham, N. (2000) Emancipation, the Media and Modernity. Arguments about the media and social theory.: Oxford University Press, New York,
IDSA (2001a) 'Economic Impacts of the Demand for Playing Interactive Entertainment Software', http://www.idsa.com/pressroom.html, Interactive Digital Software Association, Washington,
IDSA (2001b) 'State of the Industry Report 2000-2001', Interactive Digital Software Association, Washington,
Kerr, A. (2002) 'Loading... Please Wait. Ireland and the Global Games Industry', STeM Working Paper No 1, STeM, Dublin City University, Dublin,
Porter, M., E. (1998) The Competitive Advantage of Nations: MacMillan Business, London.
CRIC has combined with PREST to form the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR).
New book: Trust in Food, A Comparative and Institutional Analysis by Unni Kjaernes, Mark Harvey & Alan Warde.
CRIC Final Report to ESRC:"Main Report" and "CRIC Performance Indicators 1997-2006".
'Instituted Or Embedded? Legal, Fiscal and Economic Institutionalisation of Markets' by Mark Harvey
'Beyond Efficiency and Market Shares: Competition within the Finnish Games Industry' by Mirva Peltoniemi
'Accounting for Economic Evolution: Fitness and the Population Method' by Stan Metcalfe
'Innovation and Final Consumption: Social Practices, Instituted Modes of Provision and Intermediation' by Andrew McMeekin & Dale Southerton
'Alfred Marshall’s Mecca: Reconciling the Theories of Value and Development' by Stan Metcalfe