The Evolving European Video Game Software Ecosystem - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 219

So what could be a possible course of action? The report (De Prato et al.
2010), although not including a comprehensive policy analysis with sharp
policy implications, pointed towards a number of areas which might require
further policy attention, also at the European level: (1) steps towards a digi-
tal single market might need to be more far-reaching; (2) games need to be
more accepted both for their cultural and their economic value; (3) access
to (more) funding should be made easier; (3) standardization of middleware
could be considered; (4) skills development could be improved; and (5) sta-
tistics should be collected and analysed on a regular basis (adapted from
De Prato et al. 2010).
Finally, we may ask ourselves if our research has had any impact on Euro-
pean policy-making. Albeit very dii cult to assess, we believe the research
contributed, to some extent, to making policymakers recognize video games
as legitimate industry providing opportunities for industrial growth. 15
In addition, through technology transfer, other industries can benefi t from
the R&D, experiments and large-scale implementation carried out for video
game-related products, thus being a creative laboratory for e-services, where
innovations may spill over to other parts of the ICT sector as well to more “seri-
ous” applications. Going beyond the simple fun of playing video games may
well serve societal objectives of inclusion, health, skilling and learning, thus
complementing more classical approaches to reach such goals. In this respect
our research provided impetus for DG INFSO and IPTS to launch another
project on Digital Games for Empowerment and Inclusion (DGEI). 16
In conclusion, the video game industry, especially its software segment, is
a rapidly growing industry undergoing potentially disruptive changes, with
revamping value networks and new types of fi rms entering and providing
spillovers to other industries with uses beyond the pure fun of playing. As
such, it clearly provides economic growth opportunities for companies and
regions, including Europe. Given this strategic importance of the video game
industry, it is perhaps time for industrial policy to take it more seriously.
NOTES
1. The views expressed are those of the authors and may not in any circumstances
be regarded as stating an oi cial position of the European Commission.
2. For more project information, see http://is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pages/ISG/COM-
PLETE.html (last accessed: December 2011).
3. Here we refer to software as opposed to hardware. We note there is ongoing
debate whether video games should be classifi ed as a software or a cultural
product; trade associations hold dif erent view about this. See EGDF ( http://
www.egdf.eu, last accessed March 2012) and ISFE ( http://www.isfe.eu/ last
accessed: March 2012 ). See also O'Donnell's Chapter 1 in this topic where
he makes a strong statement; i.e. that video games is an industry with fea-
tures distinct from, and only partly overlapping with, the software indus-
try. Although we concur, and also recognize the importance this distinction
has for regulation, public subsidies and WTO trade negotiations, our focus