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Digital Games Industries:
Developments, Impact and Direction

The Good, The Bad and The Indifferent: An International Examination of Interventions in the Commercialisation Process in the Games Industry

Helen Mullen
NMP
Helen@nmp.biz
&
Kate Oakley
Demos Associate
Kate.Oakley@btopenworld.com

Keywords: creative industry, intellectual property, commercialisation, computer games

It has long been said that the UK successfully generates ideas but is less effective at commercialising them. Recent work undertaken on behalf of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts indicated that this is still a commonly held view.

In recent years, the retention and exploitation of ideas has gained increasing attention, particularly within the creative industries, due to the rapid advances in technology and the increasing importance of creative content therein. This has been increasingly evident within the UK's interactive leisure software sector, the largest market in Europe and the third largest in the world, valued at £0.93 billion in 2000.

The global leisure software industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years and is now estimated to be worth around £13bn. However a recent DTI report raised concerns for the UK industry and indicated that intellectual property retention and exploitation were key issues for its future growth:

"Developing an industry model that allows UK developers to build a solid and sustainable base for serving all global publishers, whilst also playing a larger role in the ownership and exploitation of intellectual property, offers the most promising route for securing the future competitiveness of the UK industry"

Management of the commercialisation process is crucial in ensuring that ideas reach the marketplace however support is not always forthcoming at key stages. Despite the sector being more attractive to government than it used to be, real practical support is still thin on the ground. Even when available, it can be difficult to access or does not adequately address the specific needs of the industry.

A number of policy developments have therefore taken place internationally as countries seek to strengthen their computer games industry. Canada, Japan and Australia have all established a number of initiatives, some combining public and private sector support, to support the commercialisation process particularly IP retention and access to market.

The benefits derived from such support can provide lessons for the UK industry particularly in terms of what works and what doesn't. Although UK public sector policy is also changing, and a number of initiatives for areas such as marketing and finance have emerged, the delivery of this is variable and the opportunity to share best practice can be limited or time consuming.

To ensure that the UK industry builds on its foundations and goes on to bigger and better things, we need to have a coherent approach to its development plus a support infrastructure that delivers, particularly in relation to market access and development. The experience of the companies themselves is particularly relevant here therefore case study evidence will be used to highlight the real issues being faced, the blockages in the commercialisation process and the support that has made a difference (or not).

In summary, this study will provide a thorough examination of the support for commercialisation at a policy level plus the real life commercialisation experiences of companies, by combining a international review of policy, interviews with key figures from industry and Government and company case studies.

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Digital Games Industries: Developments, Impact and Direction

The Good, The Bad and The Indifferent: An International Examination of Interventions in the Commercialisation Process in the Games Industry

Digital Games Industries:
Developments, Impact and Direction