Over the past fifty years, video games have become a major cultural and creative industry. At once media, technology, hardware and software, video games are at the forefront of many fields, and at the same time encourage their massive adoption: technological innovations, use of real-time 3D and AI, business models, organization of work, online life, consumption practices, purchasing and relationships with property, structuring fictions and social relationships, online, offline, in stream, co-op or esport competition. The video game is one of the protagonists of the daily lives of billions of gamers, a product of the founding imaginations of our societies, and a powerful vector for the acceptability of technologies and related changes.
At the crossroads of all these dynamics, the European Video Game Observatory is a benchmark for producing studies and analyses for all those interested in video games: industry players as well as external companies attracted by gaming, European, national and regional public authorities developing public policies, non-governmental organizations and associations wishing to promote their causes through video games. As an entertainment-generating medium, an economic player and now an influential one, video games are on the way to becoming a dominant culture, beyond the imaginary and through the relationships to the world they generate. It is now at the heart of global power issues, as a major strategic soft power asset.
We therefore felt that the European level was necessary. On the one hand, the wealth of European productions and the geopolitical issues that run through them make it imperative to make it clear what Europe is doing with and for video games. On the other hand, the video game’s sphere of influence is such that it is gradually becoming a place of investment for new players, both private and public, who have seized the opportunity to establish their presence in these virtual worlds.
Paradoxically, however, it is not receiving as much attention as the old cultural industries or linear media: public support policies are limited compared to other media spaces (cinema, books, theater, museums), visibility remains very low in traditional media and decision-maker circles, and finally, analyses on a transnational scale are almost non-existent, despite the fact that it is a totally globalized industry. Although it has established itself as one of the “heavy” digital industries, it has remained on the bangs of European policies.
The European Video Game Observatory aims to explore the video game industry by bringing together all its stakeholders on a European scale, and to open up industrial, cultural and creative perspectives. Thanks to its knowledge of the European video game industry, the Observatory intends to support private and public players in the industry’s transformation through its studies and strategic reflections.
Olivier Mauco, Phd., Chairman of the European Video Game Observatory