Tiga is the national trade association representing the business and commercial interests of games software developers in the UK and Europe.
Prior to his appointment as CEO of Tiga, Richard Wilson was Director of Communications at the Royal Academy of Engineering and Head of Business Policy at the Institute of Directors. This Keynote is taken from a recent Tigo report responding to the UK’s Government’s commitment to education.
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UK games developers rely on highly creative, technical people with skills and qualifications in areas such as design, programming, artificial intelligence, animation, mathematics and physics.
Approximately two-thirds of games development employees are qualified to level 4 (first degree or vocational equivalent).
Games developers face skill shortages. The number of higher education applicants for maths and computer science fell by almost 25% between 2002 and 2005. Additionally, there are concerns about the quality of graduates from computer and video
games courses.
Just four such courses have been accredited by Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for Creative Media. Only around 30% of graduates even from the most accredited and successful courses find
work in the video games industry.
The British Government recognises that the games industry suffers from skill shortages. It plans to conduct research to see if universities are equipping students with the skills that the creative sectors of the economy need. Encouragingly, the Government
plans to work with the games industry to develop a Centre for Excellence for Computer Games. Tiga is working with the North West Regional Development Agency on a feasibility study that will examine the need for a Games Centre of Excellence.
It could serve as a ‘finishing school’ for graduates, enabling them to become work ready more quickly. The Government proposes that by 2013 the creative industries as a whole should be providing up to 5,000 apprenticeships per annum.
Games developers need a greater supply of graduates not apprentices. The proposal to provide subsidies for small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to train apprentices would not therefore be particularly helpful for games developers, given their different skill needs.
Instead the Government should focus on increasing the number of mathematics and computer science graduates without sacrificing quality. Ultimately, this means improving standards of mathematics and computing in schools.
A firm understanding of mathematics and computer science are crucial for a career in the video games development sector.
We need to increase the supply of good quality teachers into schools. The Government should consider providing more generous bursaries to trainee teachers in mathematics and in computer science.
The Government should also consider providing more generous ‘golden hellos’ to teachers in mathematics and computer science with a good degree (i.e. 2:1 or above) in these subjects, to encourage them to teach in schools. The national curriculum should be made more flexible in order to give schools the freedom to teach subjects such as computer programming.
A pilot programme should be introduced whereby the tuition fees for students studying mathematics and computer science in higher education are reduced. This would give students a strong incentive to study these subjects and so potentially increase the supply
of graduates in these disciplines. Reductions in computer science degree funding should be reversed.
The Government’s strategy paper implies that there are too many computer game courses in higher education (there are currently 81). A large number of courses per se are not a problem. Competition in the provision of courses is good: it encourages
providers to develop qualifications that meet the needs of learners and employers.
What is important is that universities provide good quality courses that equip learners with either a set of transferable skills which a range of employers value or a more specific set of skills relevant to a particular industry; and ideally both.
Additionally, students need to understand before they begin their degree what their courses prepare them for: a general ‘graduate’ job or an industry specific job. Employers need to be able to understand what students will have learnt whilst studying for
particular courses so that they can recruit with greater confidence.
Links between universities and the games industry need to be encouraged in order to ensure that higher education providers are fully aware of the skills needs of employers.
Tiga will continue to build relationships between developers, universities and training providers. We need to leave games businesses with more resources to invest in training. Either corporation tax should be cut or tax credits could be issued in a similar manner to the R&D tax credits for business’s expenses relating to education and training.
Publicly funded schemes such as Train to Gain should be made more flexible so that subsidised training is available to help employers train their employees to attain qualifications pitched at level 4 and above, including management courses.
Promoting a diverse workforce
Skillset estimates that of the electronic games workforce 8% are women, 3% are from ethnic minorities, few are disabled and the majority are aged 34 or below. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport intends to work with its non-departmental public bodies to promote a more diverse workforce. Games developers want to recruit and retain the best teams available, irrespective of their backgrounds. The Government must improve standards in education amongst all groups so that games developers can recruit as widely as possible.