In strengthening the knowledge-economy in Europe, strategies have been developed at all levels, from the overall legal and financial framework within the EU’s single market, down to the support of specific sectors, subsectors and emerging technological areas. As part of the overall strategy to strengthen the conditions within Europe for the generation of growth and jobs in high value-added sectors, Boosting European Games Industry (BOO-Games) was based on the recognition that the potential benefits for EU citizens from the rapidly growing digital games market could be enhanced if the correct regional funding and support mechanisms were put in place for small and innovative game developers.

To this end, BOO-Games aimed to support regional public authorities in understanding the positive impact that well-tailored support policies in digital gaming could have on their regions and citizens. It accomplished this by assessing different types of support, such as: public funding, private investment incentives, talent incubation, cluster development, improvement of public perception of the potential for digital games. Public authorities and project partner organizations within the project which were more advanced in this field were paired with other regional public authorities and regions with less experience. This allowed for mutual learning and interregional cooperation that helped improve support strategies for the sector where they were needed the most. The objectives of BOO-Games were achieved through the following activities:

1. Regional analyses research that identified the policies and support instruments already available across Europe;
2. Study visits for public authorities to other advanced regions;
3. Thematic seminars of topics relevant to the consortium;
4. Development of a good practice guide which will collect ‘best practices’ in digital gaming support policy to allow dissemination across Europe;
5. The organization of an international conference on the game industry;
6. Implementation plans for each region that integrated the projects findings into the policy process;
7. The transfer of 2 good practices in 2 regions.

The project brought together 14 partners from 9 European Union countries:

1. Coventry University Enterprise (CUE) - coordinator
2. Stratford On Avon District Council
3. MFG Baden-Württemberg mbH
4. City of Karlsruhe Economic Development
5. Region Ile de France
6. PREDA - Paris Region Economic Development Agency
7. European Centre for Business and Innovation of Asturias
8. Sviluppumbria
9. Piedmont Region
10. CSP - Innovation in ICT
11. Utrecht School of the Arts
12. Foundation Temi Zammit
13. Applied Research and Communications Fund
14. Innovation and Technology Transfer Salzburg Ltd.

BOO-Games was supported by the INTERREG IVC programme, financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It run from January 2012 until December 2014.

Contacts:

Adriana Dimova, adriana.dimova(at)online(dot)bg