UK "centre of excellence" proposed

By Johnny Minkley Published 17 June, 2009

Not a giant amusement arcade, sadly.

As part of the much-hyped Digital Britain report, published yesterday, the UK government has revealed plans to open a "Usability Centre for Video Games", to offer industry skills training and provide a "national resource" to "meet the industries' needs".

The centre would be located alongside the BBC's swanky MediaCity HQ in Salford, Greater Manchester, to take advantage of the corporation's facilities, specifically the "Children's and Sports Department, Interactive Education and Literacy Department and key parts of the Corporation's R&D operations".

The report acknowledged the success of videogames-related courses already on offer at the University of Abertay in Scotland, and the government wants to build on this model to offer a greater range of training, development and expertise to graduates who fancy getting paid to play videogames for a living. We recommend it.

There's no info yet on when the centre might open. The government said, in wonderfully clumsy government-speak, that it will "examine the options arising from a feasibility study" and "work with industry and expedite the collection of further evidence in order to ensure the scope of the proposal meets the industries' needs." Which probably means, don't hold your breath just yet.

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Eurogamer TV's Johnny Minkley is a veteran journalist with a lifelong passion for games and the games industry. He uses Twitter more than most people use air.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • AphoticCosmos #1 3 years ago

    "Centre of excellence"

    Who, or what, the fuck comes up with these names? Why can't it just be Games School?

  • lambtron #2 3 years ago

    Salford.

    Oh god.

  • Triggerhappytel #3 3 years ago

    Good good, is the government finally beginning to realise that the UK is an industry leader in the field of games development?! Now maybe they can propose plans to financially assist the industry in this country and/or give them tax breaks.

  • AphoticCosmos #4 3 years ago

    "Salford.

    Oh god."

    My thoughts.

    Again, why the need to build everything up north? Most major UK studios, with the notable exception of Rockstar North, are in the South and Midlands. Makes more sense to build it in somewhere like Brighton, no?

  • skillian #5 3 years ago

    It's a great idea :)

    But "examine the options arising from a feasibility study"? A bit like "consulting on a proposal to legislate to give Ofcom a duty to take steps aimed at reducing copyright infringement".

    Is it just me or did that Digital Britain report contain a huge amount of promising to consider things but very little in the way of concrete decisions? Not really surprising I guess.
    Edited by 2 at 17/06/09 @ 11:08

  • lambtron #6 3 years ago

    I don't think "Up North" is the problem but Salford is a shithole with a reputation for knife crime.

    I wouldn't say all the studios are down South either and so far the best place for games degrees is in Dundee (aforementioned University of Abertay). You're also missing out RTW who are also in Dundee ;).

  • AphoticCosmos #7 3 years ago

    "I don't think "Up North" is the problem but Salford is a shithole with a reputation for knife crime.

    I wouldn't say all the studios are down South either and so far the best place for games degrees is in Dundee (aforementioned University of Abertay). You're also missing out RTW who are also in Dundee ;)."

    Point taken ;)

  • dadrester #8 3 years ago

    Dundee alone has:

    Realtime worlds
    Ruffian
    Cohort Studios
    Proper games
    4J
    Tag games
    Denki

    ...that i can think of off the top of my head. Shame it's an utter shithole.

  • Crea #9 3 years ago

    I think "utter shithole" is a bit harsh.

    It's no Florence, I'll grant you that :)

  • dadrester #10 3 years ago

    pffft... i stay by my comment. it's the arsehole of scotland!

  • lambtron #11 3 years ago

    It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

  • layleeloo #12 3 years ago

    Lambtron, AphoticCosmos

    HOW FUCKING THICK ARE YOU TWO RETARDS? SALFORD HAS A REP FOR KNIFE CRIME? YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

    BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE?

    UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY GO TO SALFORD AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT I SUGGEST YOU KEEP YOU CHILDISH, HYPOCRITICAL FUCKWIT OPINIONS TO YOURSELVES

  • Wastelander #13 3 years ago

    Note to self:

    don't EVER go to Salford.

  • BastoJ #14 3 years ago

    "BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE?"

    Pot... kettle...

  • Markusdragon #15 3 years ago

    It's grim up north.

  • shadowaspect #16 3 years ago

    I imagined Layleeloo actually shouting at his(?) screen whilst typing. Made me smile.

  • dadrester #17 3 years ago

    It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

    not right now it's fucking not.

  • RexRunti #18 3 years ago

    It's more sunny and rains less than the rest of Scotland so it's not all bad ;)

    Isn't that a bit like saying "It's dryer than Atlantis"?

  • teabagger #19 3 years ago

    As someone who works in the industry, I'd just like to say that on the face of it it sounds like a pile of old toss. The idea of being paid to play games is crap (though I suspect that's EGs wording), and anyone that thinks that's the job shouldn't bother applying. Even then we're only talking about QA which often gets the guys McDonalds wouldn't give a job to. True, a few make the path to designer from there but it's not easy...

    What we need is decent Computer Science courses, decent animation and art courses. Oh hold on, we already do. Why not support them? Decent people will still go through those well-respected channels. The whole hyped-up centre of excellence stuff is all style and no substance, it'll attract dossers who think it's an easy ticket and they'll be wondering what's gone wrong when no one offers them a job. Still, not like the government to waste millions on schemes because they fundamentally misunderstand the issues.

  • Calgon #20 3 years ago

    To be fair theres been alot of development done in the Salford area now(lots of money pumped in), BBC moved there and a Id imagine alot of other big businesses have followed, perhaps it was because Manchester is a good location and Salford offered cheaper sites near to a big city with all the facilities you'd need(transport ect).

  • Hexagon #21 3 years ago

    The government getting more involved with video games in a positive manner sounds like a good idea. :-)

  • AphoticCosmos #22 3 years ago

    "BRIGHTON? I COULD SAY WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE PUT SOMETHING DOWN THERE WITH THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN PONCE TWAT BRIGADE? "

    You mean with Eurogamer's UK offices?

  • Crea #23 3 years ago

    I second teabagger's opinion.

    New entrants into the industry isn't the problem. Where I work we seem to have no problems finding a fairly constant stream of incredible juniors.

    The issue is keeping hold of the staff you have in the face of uncompetitive salaries, crap hours and poor job security.

  • MrChuckles #24 3 years ago

    Guildford Surely?

    Lionhead, Media Molecule, EA, Kuju, Codemasters...etc....

  • Hexagon #25 3 years ago

    @ MrChuckles

    That would be wonderful for I live in Guildford. :-)

  • LHH #26 3 years ago

    Why is shit always up in Manchester? Might as well open a welcome centre in Somalia

  • IronCladChicken #27 3 years ago

    So... Bill & Ted's plans for world domination finally begin