Understanding the Value of a European Games Society

Initiated by the European Parliament as a pilot project, the European Video Games Society project was launched in January 2022 and will be carried out throughout 2022 by a consortia lead by ECORYS Europe. This project aims to assist the European Commission in developing a better understanding of the video game sector, of its impact on a range of policy areas, and of how the EU could play a targeted and active role in supporting the sector’s development through specific policy approaches and objectives.

Through research and dialogues with the sector, the project seeks to identify several policy options to pursue at the EU level in order to support and sustain the growth of the sector in the future. The outputs of this pilot project reflects the views only of the authors and the European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study.

Discover the final study

Why study the European Video Games Society?

Video games play a significant role in European society, not only as a cultural-economic sector, but also as a noteworthy part of people’s daily life. The EU accounts for one third of the overall market value in the global video game market and displays a high growth rate compared to other economic sectors. As home to some of the largest and well-known game publishers and game studios, the EU produces prominent video games which influence the cultural scene around the globe. 

What does the project aim to achieve?

The project has two main aspirations. The first one is to deepen understanding of the video game sector in order to identify future policy options; the second goal is to create and nurture a network of actors and experts in the field of EU video game industry, in order to facilitate future exchanges and support its growth. 

The project will analyse several core dimensions of video games:

• The main characteristics of the EU videogame industry ecosystem;
• Main EU-based game creators and video game companies;
• Cultural, economic and social impact of videogames and the video games industry in the EU;
• Current regulatory context and policy agenda (per policy area) at the EU level and Member State level for the videogame sector in the EU; 
• Main support instruments available at EU and Member State level for the videogame sector in the EU; 
• Major trends in EU gaming market and how can the EU support the industry;
• Promoting and nurturing an EU-wide network of pertinent actors and experts in fields related to the video game industry. 

What are the key outputs?

Twelve workshops in the form of structured dialogues between key actors and stakeholders from the European video games ecosystem.

• Workshop 1: The value of European video games society
• Workshop 2: Challenges and opportunities in the video games industry
• Workshop 3: Education, research, and skills needs in the gaming industry
• Workshop 4: Games as cultural and artistic expression
• Workshop 5: Regulatory Framework for Video Games
• Workshop 6: Health, Wellbeing and Games
• Workshop 7: Greening the Video Games Industry: Winning Solutions for the Environment
• Workshop 8: Rules in Play – Regulatory framework enforcement in the video games industry
• Workshop 9: Fuelling a growing market – Financing and investments in the video games sector
• Workshop 10: Market trends in the video games sector: today and tomorrow
• Up to six conferences at industry events.
• Four market assessment reports which tackle the economic financial, legislative, educational and cultural aspect of video games in the EU, based on desk research, surveys and interviews.
• A final study including analysis of the economic, employment, regulatory, cultural and social dimensions of video games, together with policy proposals to guide policymaking at the European and national levels.

Related content and other relevant initiatives

The MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme supports European film and other audiovisual industries, including dedicated support for the video games sector.