Video game clusters in six European regions are under the microscope as part of a research project to uncover the factors driving success outside major capital cities. The project is led by Abertay University in Dundee and called the Gaming Clusters Across Multiple European Regions (GAME-ER) study. 

GAME-ER is funded by Horizon Europe, with a focus on regions including Dundee in Scotland, Lyon and Bordeaux in France, Turin in Italy, Fundão in Portugal, and Brno in the Czech Republic.

The 36-month-long project will identify commonalities within each city’s gaming cluster, extracting valuable insights to develop a toolkit supporting industry growth. It will also explore the impact of the pandemic and remote work on gaming clusters, as well as investigating how the sector’s skills and workforce dynamics can benefit other industries.

The success of Dundee’s gaming cluster, renowned for hosting one of the highest concentrations of game developers globally and being the birthplace of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, will be a focal point. Dr Darshana Jayemanne and Professor Stefano De Paoli from Abertay University will lead the research, supported by lecturers Dr Lynn Love and Martin Lynagh.

“This research project will look into how intensive clusters of game production, like Dundee, arise outside of the major metropoles such as London, where a lot of power and money is already concentrated,” said Dr Jayemanne.

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“We hope that by tracking this across several European contexts, it will provide guidance for policymakers who are keen to build on the success of the gaming industry in cities like Dundee.

“There will be rich data to gather from talking to people who have been in and around the city’s gaming cluster from its origins to the modern day. 

“Building from the commonalities across the clusters, we’ll be developing a toolkit for policy and industry to help local games companies flourish. The impact of remote working and changes in labour are important to investigate and may lead to new ideas about sustainability in a resource-intensive industry.”