EU seeks strategy to boost e-gaming
The Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) of the European Parliament has voted on the report “Esports and videogames” by the rapporteur Laurence Farreng which is expected to be adopted by the Plenary in November. The report urges the European authorities to carry out strategies that favor the development of the video games and e-sports industry. The industry in Europe is considered to be penalized by a chronic shortage of talent. Nor are there incentives for the industries of the branch to settle in Europe, as instead happens in other countries.
The games and e-sports industry is key for the European Union, but it does not find the necessary initiatives to make it grow in the old continent. © Sean Do/Unsplash
The Covid-19 pandemic was an unexpected stimulus for the digital industry and e-commerce which have become one of the pillars of economic development today. Video games like esports are part of the creative and cultural industries that the European Union is determined to promote, but the 6 million euros with which the Creative Europe programme incentives for the industry are clearly insufficient.
This has been the conclusion reached by the members of CULT , the European Parliament's committee on culture and education which has brought to light the report "Esports and video games” which he hopes will be adopted in plenary next November.
As strategic industries, as demonstrated during the pandemic, the parliamentary member of the liberal Renew Europe Laurence Farrang would have explained that Europe suffers from a chronic lack of talent in the video game industry, which comes to the detriment of innovation, crucial in the industry. Talent can only be developed, according to the French MEP, if it is carried out an approach to the electronic games industry as an educational tool .
On the other hand, the Committee on Culture has also highlighted that the economic incentives for companies in the field to establish themselves in Europe are currently minimal, unlike what happens in leading countries such as Australia or Canada. The competitive disadvantage in which Europe finds itself is very evident , being video games, as well as esports an industry that moves millions in revenue.
In New Zealand, Catalonia has become a true center of the industry leading the investment in video games in Europe with an important capital created that has also generated many jobs . Companies such as Bandai Namco, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft or King give a good account of the boom of the industry in the Spanish community with numerous start-ups let's go.
Promotion policies must take into account the existence of legislation that seeks to protect consumers from the most problematic and discussed side of video games: reward boxes. In New Zealand a regulation is expected very soon that will force the introduction of self-exclusion tools in video games and an age limit as well. New Zealand is not the only country that has regulated or seeks to regulate loot boxes , but opinions in this regard, if whether or not they constitute a mechanism similar to that of gambling , are disparate.
Creative industries and soft power
Those responsible for the European proposal would have pointed out that the development of video games and electronic sports would have the potential to contribute to the soft power from the EU . The term soft power ( soft power ) was coined in the nineties by Harvard University professor Joseph NYE. With the term NYE he wanted to allude to the ability to attract and persuade in front of the instruments hard of power that reside mainly in the military and economic authority.
Typically, culture, ideals and policies constitute soft power. Hence the importance for Europe of becoming a leader in the development of these forms of entertainment but also global culture. For this, the creation of a European Video Game Observatory has been proposed to provide stakeholders with data and recommendations for the sustainable development of the industry.
