UK developer body Tiga and the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) have teamed up to launch Play Together, a series of initiatives designed to promote innovation and collaboration between UK videogame companies and with other creative industries.

Among the initiatives, Tiga-NESTA have proposed the formation of a new service that enables UK developers to share employees, allowing studios to quickly upsize or downscale their teams - a common industry difficulty - using local area or national talent.

The bodies say they devised the Play Together initiatives following feedback from the videogame industry, “which pointed to the need for a more inventive approach to the skill shortages UK developers face.”

They will also move to establish a forum designed to foster collaboration between game developers and creatives from other industries, such as TV, film, music and animation.

“The UK videogames industry competes successfully in a global market place on the basis of a creative, flexible and highly skilled workforce,” said Tiga CEO Richard Wilson (pictured above). “However, we face a unique set of challenges: skills shortages, high recruitment costs, an unfavourable tax regime and limited availability of finance, all against a backdrop of a global recession and a relatively tight credit market.

“The Play Together initiatives will help to cut recruitment costs, reduce skill shortages, promote collaboration and knowledge sharing within the games industry and with other creative sectors, and strengthen industry-academia links. These innovative approaches will reduce business costs and encourage innovation and so enable the UK games industry to remain at the forefront of what is currently one of our most successful creative sectors.”

More information about the Play Together initiatives can be found here, ahead of the service’s July 2009 launch.

Edge will have further Play Together coverage from an event being held today at the House of Commons.