Home › Insights › Ukie launches esports whitepaper entitled “Growing the UK as an esports hub”

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Steve Ketteley

David McLeish

December 5, 2016

Ukie says that its whitepaper has been written following months of consultation with the UK’s esports community via Ukie’s esports subgroup, and outlines eight recommendations for how industry and government can work together to make the UK a global leader in esports.

The launch event saw over 120 people pack into the Gfinity Arena where Ukie CEO, Dr Jo Twist OBE, announced the recommendations and insight into sector’s prospects in job creation, local economic growth, tourism, and new skills development.

The whitepaper was welcomed by Matt Hancock MP, Minister for Digital and Culture, who sent a video message of support for the growing esports sector in the UK.

The eight recommendations in the paper are:

  • the sector needs to work with key government departments to develop a unified strategic approach and appealing trade and investment offer to major international tournament holders, IP owners and brands;
  • the delivery of superfast broadband and 5G to provide the best infrastructure across the country;
  • the sector should coordinate itself as an industry group to share information and encourage and facilitate the sharing of best practice;
  • industry and government need to develop a methodology for more accurately measuring the UK esports sector;
  • the Government needs to consider the needs of esports businesses and players in policy debates around skills and immigration, and ensure friction-free access to the highly skilled talent needed by the games and esports sectors;
  • the UK’s already world-leading games industry education courses should include esports modules;
  • esports companies should actively support sustainable initiatives that promote and inspire diverse participation of esports; and
  • 15 UK esports ambassadors to be created to promote esports in the UK and internationally, picked from a diverse mix of players, developers, publishers and event organisers, and to be added to the UK’s existing Video Games Ambassadors scheme.

To read Ukie’s press release in full and for a link to the whitepaper, click here.

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