Ensuring the Digital Games industry in Wales can compete with the rest of the UK will be the focus of a new knowledge transfer centre at the University of Glamorgan.
The Digital Games Content Laboratory (DIGiLab) will be established as the result of a successful funding bid to the Academics for Business (A4B) scheme for £422,555. The project aims to promote knowledge transfer between the academic centres of excellence to the computer games industry sub-sector.
Led by Professor Peter Robertson, Dean of the University’s Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries, in collaboration with Swansea Metropolitan University and @Wales Digital Media, the project will provide a unique resource to support open innovation in the Welsh media industries.
Professor Robertson, commented, “This sub-sector is a key part of the creative industries in the UK but in Wales, proportionally, there are few companies and approximately only 100 people employed, well below the UK sector average for employment.”
He continued, “Recent consultation with companies has highlighted there is lack of expertise in computer games content development. The aim is to stimulate new product development of games content within existing media companies in Wales. “
DiGiLab will aim to:
- produce digital games prototypes to demonstrate the commercial potential to leading games publishers, such as EA, Sony Interactive, and Ubisoft;
- broker relationships between existing companies, academia, and games industry association, ELSPA/TIGA, to promote open innovation; and,
- provide work based experiential learning opportunities for graduates to develop the next generation of games developers in Wales.
The project is associated with the University’s Media Lab initiative which has to date been given £866,434 of grant funding and will be formally opened by the First Minister in September.
