On 10th of January Minister of Culture Heidy Purga invited representatives of the Estonian Video Game Development Industry to jointly find realistic ways to increase the economic impact of this specific sector and to raise Estonia’s international visibility and reputation through video games. The Ministry of Culture is drafting a strategic plan for the following one to three years. There were many serious topics discussed.
The main question, that were addressed:
- Where or what is the untapped potential of the sector today in terms of economic impact and increasing Estonia’s international visibility?
- What are the existing preconditions and capacities to exploit this potential?
- What are the obstacles or challenges?
- Which foreign countries or regions are important for the sector, and why?
- How can we describe the impact of the games sector and the creators, organizations, and companies active in it on the economy and the image of Estonia?
From developers side came a lot of different propositions. The most important ones were the requirement to update the EMTAK codes in order to obtain more accurate information. Active measures need to be implemented to prevent the coming deluge of young enthusiasts leaving the country for better opportunities in nordic markets. The need to establish specialized tech hubs and innovation centers across the country and ideally some way of monetary support for “verticle slice” creation.
EAS (Enterprise Estonia) representatives expressed their willingness to support video game development industry. They are open to help us fund trade missions to the main international events. And there is a possibility of free five hour consultation on the topic of IP rights.
We can conclude that for the moment at least the ministry of culture has recognized the need for infrastructure development to support the growth of the industry. We will see in the near future where this meeting will lead us.
