GAME-ER - Gaming Clusters Across Multiple European Regions

A 36-month research project funded by the Horizon Europe programme and UKRI. The main objective of the project is to research how video games clusters emerge, develop and sustain themselves, with particular focus on local and regional clusters. Based on this research, GAME-ER will formulate a series of policy and practical recommendations which will compose an Interactive Methodological Toolkit. These recommendations are aimed especially at local and national policy and decision-makers, with the intent to help them bootstrap Cultural and Creative Industries clusters, or strengthen existing clusters in their regions or cities.
Much of existing research on video game clusters concentrate on clusters outside Europe, or on European clusters in capital or large metropolitan cities. However local and regional clusters also are key drivers of innovation, growth and cohesion and GAME-ER will fill the gap around the limited knowledge we have about them. To achieve its ambitious objective a core component will be a comparative analysis of six local and regional clusters in five European countries:

ITALY
An emerging cluster exists around OGR Torino, in the Piedmont Region, which supports video game startups through the Quickload Acceleration Program. Quickload, launched in 2021, is dedicated to European startups in the gaming industry and game dev teams who want to bring their project to the next level, backed by the expertise of world-class gaming industry talents. The program is powered by OGR Torino in collaboration with the key partners 34BigThings and Microsoft. In Turin, there are several major players & independent studios in the gaming industry, which collectively employ over 100 professionals from the sector and are behind popular games on the market.

FRANCE
While there is high concentration of game companies in Paris, of particular interest are the two regional clusters that exist around Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region and Bordeaux in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, both of which emerged initially around the presence of a historical company.

SCOTLAND
London has the highest concentration of video game companies in the UK, however an active and innovative video games cluster exists around the city of Dundee in the North-east of Scotland, which emerged around a leading game company (Rockstar) and with a key role played by a University. It comprises large companies and a vibrant start-up scene.

CZECHIA
Where aside from Prague, which hosts the highest number of game studios, there is a notable cluster in Brno in the South Moravian Region that brings together various entities including individuals, associations, companies, schools and universities. In Brno, there are more than 40 studios employing more than 800 developers.

PORTUGAL
Where the Municipality of Fundão has launched an Innovation Strategy for reversing the economic and demographic decline of its region. This includes the establishment of a new video game cluster within the recent Invest in Games Strategy. This cluster is in a nascent form and will offer the unique opportunity to directly research the initial conditions of the emergence of a cluster.

The GAME-ER project includes 16 partners from 9 countries, with expertise in social sciences and humanities, policy making, the third-sector, business and innovation.

This project is funded by the European Union Horizon Europe framework programme (horizon-cl2-2023-heritage-01-06) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK governement’s Horizon Europe funding under GA no. 101132585.