Only last month, the government decided to launch a £4 million prototype fund to help start-ups in the video games sector as part of the chancellor George Osborne’s final budget of the current parliament.
This government also announced an additional £4m funding over the next two years to support the Skills Investment Fund – a pot of match-funding for training within the video games industry and other creative sectors.
These two initiatives are extremely welcome and it’s important that whoever forms the next government shows the same level of commitment to the future development of all creative industries that the coalition has shown to gaming.
Those parties whose stated aim is to encourage Stem – science, technology, engineering and maths – need to produce Steam, and include the arts as central to a generation’s cultural education.
The Green party is the only national party to promise public arts investment to the tune of £500m, along with the reinstatement of the “proper level of funding for local authorities, helping to keep local museums, theatres, libraries and art galleries open”.
The Conservatives promise investment in big projects such as a state-of-the-art concert hall for London and a great exhibition in the North. On the subject of the tax incentives and funding for films, video games, animation and theatre, they say: “We will continue these reliefs and expand them when possible.”
Meanwhile, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we, as the gaming industry, take our responsibilities towards family values and online security seriously so that gamers are entertained in a safe environment. The Conservatives back us on this by promising to protect IP and continuing to require internet service providers to block sites that carry large amounts of illegal content.
Together with the next government, we need to ensure that the prototype fund is spent on projects that have real commercial potential so that we can show that, as an industry, we can turn £4m into £40m and make significant contributions to the country’s bottom line.
Often with government subsidies, people with worthy yet unrealistic projects become adept at winning investment. This fund needs to pump-prime commercial projects so that we can grow it under a new political leadership in the future.
Interestingly, all parties who mention creative industries support more investment in training and apprenticeships across the sector.
Labour will guarantee a universal entitlement to a creative education “so that every young person has access to cultural activity and the arts by strengthening creative education in schools and after-school clubs”.
The Liberal Democrats are the only party to include a specific mention of creative industries in their industrial strategy as one of the sectors “critical to Britain’s ability to trade internationally”.
Their manifesto explicitly links “arts, creative industries and culture” together under a heading “pride in creativity” as being “crucial to Britain’s success and essential for personal fulfilment and quality of life”.
Change always breeds uncertainty and the election on Thursday will be no different. However, as creatives, we are perhaps better placed to deal with change positively and adapt or react in a more creative way.
It’s important, though, that whatever the outcome we continue to hold political parties to their promises and drive investment, training and development in the creative sector forward for new generations to enjoy.
- Jason Kingsley OBE is co-founder and creative director of games maker Rebellion and chair of the Independent Games Developers Association (Tiga). He sits on the government’s Creative Industries Council.
