Policy Brief: Serious Games and Gamification

NDPC is issuing the fourth Policy Brief ‘Serious Games and Gamification – Everything to Play For?’ within the framework of an EU-funded study project ‘Cross-sectoral cooperation and innovation within Creative and Cultural Industries – practices, opportunities and policies within the area of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture’, which is being carried out till the end of April 2021.

Contributing to post-COVID-19 economic and social priorities and drawing on budgets, income and financing dedicated to their agendas is going to need to be a way of life for many in the CCI sector. The ability of CCIs to connect with other sectors and contribute to cross-sectoral innovation is therefore going to be vitally important. This policy brief suggests that the serious games (SG) and gamification sector is very well-positioned in this respect. There is untapped potential and in this policy brief future opportunities are examined in relation to cross-sectoral innovation with the cultural heritage, education, medical, health and well-being sectors.

In addition, other developments augur well for the SG and gamification sector. In the case of the education and training sector one example would be accessing and contributing to opportunities potentially offered by the new European Commission ‘Digital Education Action Plan – Resetting education and training for the digital age’ (2021–2027).

One of the real challenges facing the games industry in the Northern Dimension countries and which represents a constraint in an otherwise booming context is the human resource dimension i.e. fostering talent and filling specialist jobs. For that reason the policy brief contains a section looking at some of those issues and the particular needs of SG start-ups.

Apart from a section on the wider games context, this policy brief is focusing on serious games and gamification not entertainment games. For that reason we do not touch on social issues such as gaming addiction or ongoing debates about children and gaming.

This policy brief incorporates the inputs and ideas of many experts and specialists whom we want to thank, especially those who actively contributed to an Experts’ Focus Group which took place as an online event on 14th January 2021.

The policy brief is available in English and Russian.

More information: https://ndpccrossinno.eu/