It’s been a tumultuous and busy 24 hours. News of the research into Scotland’s creative industries has spread throughout the global games sector and into the mainstream media…
Now, the Scottish government has been in touch to tell us that they know it’s wrong and they’re working on better figures and more reliable information.
Here’s the official announcement:
VALUE OF SCOTLAND’S COMPUTER GAMES SECTOR
Commenting on the value attributed to the computer games sector in the Arts and Creative Industries Economic Impact study, a Scottish Government spokesperson said,
“This study itself acknowledges upfront that the computer games sector data is anomalous. Official Scottish Government statistics (SABS) value the Computer Games, Software and Electronic Publishing sectors in 2010 at just over £1bn GVA – representing about a third of the Creative Industries sector in Scotland.
“We are aware of the need for more detailed and robust information about the value of the computer games sector to the Scottish economy. This is something we are currently working on, in collaboration with industry and agency partners.”
Background:
Companies producing computer games may not be registered for VAT, or registered in a way which causes their output to be included within a different sector thus leading to anomalies in reporting the value of the computer games sector to the Scottish economy.
This is a good thing. The government has recognised the data used is flawed and the conclusions are at odds with their own data, which attributes a far higher value to the industry.
We win. Kind of…
This is not an end point. It’s an opportunity to ensure that evaluating the scope, the definition and the value of the games and interactive sector in Scotland is carried out more intelligently. It gives us an excellent platform to move forward and to ensure that the Scottish government, the cultural and enterprise agencies and the other 20+ organisations here in Scotland start to communicate more effectively and perhaps work towards some common goals when it comes to ‘computer games’.
However, we as an industry are going to have to stand up and ensure that collectively, we get better at making information available and communicating externally. All of us. Together.
We’ll be keeping in touch with the government and the organisations involved to ensure that everything actually happens. More as it happens.
Finally we’d like to say – good job guys – without your support, your cross-posting, retweeting, sharing, liking and communicating – this may well not have happened.
Now imagine what we could achieve if we all did the same for each other?
– Brian
