From the Editor: We recently heard about a project in northwest England that we hope will provide inspiration for facilitated growth in other areas of the world as well. We invited Phil to give us some background on it.
Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that a University, the European Union, a UK government funding body, and casual games make a very strange mix, but those are the very forces which have been driving a new initiative called “Casual Games North West” (CGNW) in the northwest of England. What is unique about the project is that it is being run by the University of Bolton on behalf of the Creative Industries Development Service and is being partly funded by the European Union via the ERDF. This in itself is perhaps not unique, but what is unique is that the project has focused on casual games as a driver to achieve its goals.
As with any such project, the overall goal is to achieve growth for businesses in the area. What is interesting is that when the funding bodies involved were thinking of investing in the creative sector, they were persuaded to invest in casual games as a means of delivering such growth. Even half a dozen years ago, if someone had been asked to invest in anything creative in the northwest of England, it almost definitely would not have been in the games sector. What has changed that position?
Two key factors have contributed to encourage the government to try to spur investment in casual games. For starters, casual games represent an emerging market based upon a solid business model—a model which covers a variety of developers of different sizes. This means that there is still room for new start-up companies to enter the market. In addition, since so many developers begin life as game enthusiasts, the games themselves serve as a sort of recruitment tool, luring new talent into the business.
During conversations at a recent networking event there was further evidence that the industry is ripe for investment and growth. For instance, many of the developers in attendance simply didn’t know that they were already involved in the casual games market. Indeed one developer said that approximately 30 percent of his company’s business could be termed “casual games” even though he was unaware of the term itself. (I suppose it doesn’t much matter what you call it so long as you’re making money, right?)
Clearly the casual games industry has attracted attention from governments interested in achieving business growth in the creative sector. However there is still a way to go before games achieve mainstream funding support on par with other creative industries. The Casual Games North West project has gotten off to a good start with many companies becoming involved. Particularly pleasing is that a number of start-up and small companies are starting to develop their businesses because of CGNW.
If the CGNW project is successful, the way will be open for more small game development studios in the UK to receive government support for their businesses. Perhaps now is the time for all developers to lobby their government agencies for similar help.
For further information about CGNW, visit www.cgnw.org.
Note: Because of the increased interest from various government organizations, the CGA will be hosting a Government Reception in Seattle during the Casual Connect conference this summer. The reception is scheduled for Wednesday, July 17, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Among those who are expected to attend the show are representatives from Australia, two branches of Canadian government, and two organizations from the U.K.
[SIDEBAR] More Proof of Worldwide Interest in Casual Games
Did you know . . . ?
- Over $90 million (USD) was invested in Israeli gaming companies in 2006. The CGA paid a visit to Tel-Aviv and we were pleasantly surprised with the excitement and innovation in the Israeli games community.
- There are over 3,000 video game developers in Vancouver, B.C.
- At the 2006 Casual Connect conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 91% of the attendees were new to Casual Games Association Events.
- Approximately 30% of the hit games of 2006 were fully or partially developed in Eastern Europe.
- DFC Intelligence calculates that the global casual games market will grow from $700 million in 2006 to $1 billion in 2007.
- Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia is now home to 40% of Australia's electronic games developers. With over 600 people already employed across more than 18 local games companies.
Phil Carlisle recently started a small game studio called GameZuki, specializing in experimental games that suit a wide audience. Prior to that, he worked for Team17 software on the multi-million selling Worms franchise. He also teaches game design and development at the University of Bolton in Bolton, England. His email address is zoombapup@gmail.com.
