TIGA urged the “Government to spend more on higher education”. Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, also commented on how “some games businesses make a substantial investment in higher education programmes” such as “Sony and Realtime Worlds” who “work closely with Abertay Universitys Dare to be Digital programme; Ubisoft Reflections has strong links with Teeside and Northumbria universities.” Additionally, Wilson compared how countries like the “USA spend between 2.5 per and 2.9 per cent of GDP on tertiary education, compared to just 1 per cent in the UK”. Promoting the need for further investment in science and maths Tiga warned:
“In the long run the UK must spend more and spend wisely if knowledge industries like the games industry are to compete successfully.”
The statements reiterate previous comments made by Jamie MacDonald, vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who said:
“In recent years, the industry could have grown so much faster if we had access to larger numbers of better trained recruits. It’s vital that we tackle the skills shortage to preserve our ability to make global hit games.”
Another huge problem that faces the British Gaming Industry is how the UK Government has generally ignored the importance of the gaming, even though it’s bigger than the film and TV industry put together. Tiga’s Richard Wilson said in 2008 that:
“Without real measures to turn the tide, we’ll see our best people follow the money overseas to where governments are more willing to invest in the future. A great British industry could become a dead man walking, just like the British film industry the before government gave it a tax credit.”
The problem is one that has still not been addressed by Government, with Eidos’ creative director and head of acquisitions, Ian Livingstone stating in January’s Future Pro.Manchester gaming event:
“The industry doesn’t get any support event though it contributes £40bn a year to GDP… Universities are not producing enough of the type of people we need. The industry needs mathematicians, physicists and artists. There are something like 81 courses in the UK dedicated to computer games, but universities get paid for putting bums on seats and they’re turning out students who know all about the history of games, but they can’t make them.”
He also said that Canada’s games industry had grown from an embryonic base 15 years ago to overtaking the UK by offering salary rebates of up to 37.5 per cent for those working in the industry, adding “They have achieved in 10 years what took us 25″.
Whether the Games Industry will benefit from Tiga’s, Mandelson’s and other industry head’s calls for support remains to be seen, and with the UK’s General Election due soon the entire fate of the industry hangs in the balance as the Labour and Conservative’s plans to help the industry have still not been announced.
