It’s been a couple of weeks since we announced that the Government has given its backing to the creation of Scotland’s Games Strategy. There has been a lot of work going on in the background since then and it’s important that the whole games community understands what we’re trying to do – and how we plan to do it.
So here’s a quick FAQ on what’s happening – and how you can get involved.
What’s The Goal?
We’re creating an ‘action plan’ as part of a strategy. This will be a series of recommendations we give to the government which will increase understanding of the games ecosystem and provide greater and more knowledgeable support for the whole games community in the long-term.
We give that to the government and they can accept those recommendations in part or in full and then work with the games ecosystem to implement them. A great example is the Logan Report (2020) which kickstarted the whole Tech Ecosystem fund.
The overall goal is simple – make Scotland one of the top game hubs in the world.
Why Do We Need Scotland’s Games Strategy?
We don’t currently have any real understanding of, or support for games at a government level (national and local). The public sector organisations are ‘misaligned’, so their support can be patchy, out of date, or just lacking any real understanding of what the games sector needs in such a challenging and rapidly evolving world.
A strategy will let us build that understanding and high-level knowledge at a national level, and provide clear recommendations for getting more support for the whole games ecosystem to help build a more successful, collaborative and connected games sector.
Who’s Doing It?
We are. This project has to be driven by the whole games community. It will need ecosystem-wide input. I (Brian) will lead and (horrible word) facilitate, but it will need input from everyone across games (and esports and education and public sector and freelancers and…)
This has to be something that everyone in ‘games’ in Scotland has a chance to contribute to so it’s of value to all of us, from the biggest studios to part-time indies, tools and tech companies and beyond.
What Happens Next
We’re going on the road. I’m currently pulling together dates for a series of workshops, all around the country, which will be open to everyone working across the games sector – developers, publishers, tools and tech, freelancers, educators and more.
We’ll be doing all of the cities – Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Aberdeen, Inverness, as well as the highlands and the borders (venues TBC). We’ll also have several online sessions for anyone unable to attend in person.
I’m working with the TechScaler network to tap into their venues across Scotland. As soon as I have dates nailed down, I’ll share them, along with links to book tickets for you and your colleagues.
What will the workshops do?
The workshops will be our chance to determine the strategy’s scope and scale. What’s going to be valuable for the sector? How do we improve the understanding of games at a government level? How do we build a more successful games sector in Scotland – both now and in the future? What will the priorities be?
We know the key challenges facing the games world. We know the potential of the sector to have a greater impact on Scotland – not just commercially, but culturally and socially.
So how do we take this data and turn it into actionable recommendations for the government, for the sector and the rest of Scotland?
The workshops are the place where everyone will have the chance to make their voices heard and input to the action plan as part of the larger strategy.
What’s The Timescale?
This project is going to move fast. Typically ‘strategies’ are enormous pieces of work which can take months or years. We are not doing that.
The workshops will take place across February and March 2024 (we’ll pause over GDC week) and we aim to have a draft of the action plan created as quickly as possible after that.
Why Are You Doing This?
Fair question. Over the last two years I have worked extensively with the government at a lot of levels, from the funding for Scottish Games Week in 2022 and 2023, to events within the parliament and across many of the public sector organisations.
There is a real understanding across the board in Scotland, that games offer an incredible opportunity to the country as a whole if we can build a greater understanding of how to support the whole ecosystem, tap into what already exists and create more focused support.
In November 2023, a group of industry representatives sat down with the deputy first minister and laid out the potential of the games sector if it was understood better, had a clearer vision and better support. The outcome of that meeting was support for a strategy.
I volunteered to lead the project and the industry group backed me to do so.
Who Else Is Involved?
We will be working with the Tech Scaler network, which is run by CodeBase, as this is one of the key pieces of ‘tech’ infrastructure in Scotland. In addition to seven locations across the country, they have a team dedicated to helping tech businesses grow and thrive.
We are also reaching out to all of the universities and colleges involved in games education, to make sure they’re represented and involved as they are a vital part of the ecosystem.
We’re also working with the team at UKIE to make sure their experience with policy and strategy and understanding of the wider UK ecosystem are involved.
We need YOU – your studio, your company, your colleagues to get involved. We want to build a strategy which is tranformative. Which can radically change how games are understood and supported in Scotland. It has to be ‘ours’ and of value to everyone, from student teams and growing indies, to the major studios, colleges, universities and all of the areas where games are now transformative (screen, healthcare, education, etc…)
Few places in the world have anything like this – so it’s a huge opportunity to make a real difference to the whole games ecosystem across Scotland. It’s really exciting, so I’m delighted to be involved.
Why Do You Keep Saying Ecosystem?
The games ‘industry’ tends to mean the companies directly involved in developing and publishing games, with a few other supporting organisations accepted. The games ecosystem is far bigger, richer and more diverse and includes the education pipeline, companies which make games tools and tech, companies which use games tools and tech, applied games in other areas, esports, game studies and more.
The global games market is enormous and still growing. It pulls in new experiences, new opportunities and new audiences on an almost weekly basis. By looking at the ‘ecosystem’ we are future-proofing the strategy – with the industry at the heart, but pulling in everyone involved in, working with, teaching and using games across the entire country.
Any Questions? AMA
If you want to know more, drop me an email and I’ll answer directly – and in a future blog – so everyone gets a chance to find out more about the plans to bring Scotland’s Games Strategy to life.
Thank you. I hope to see you soon.
~Brian