Larian Studios, Chucklefish, 4J Studios and more join UK Video Games Council to support games industry growth in Britain

The UK government has announced its new UK Video Games Council, a body designed to help continue growing the games industry in Great Britain. As the fastest-growing entertainment industry—despite mass layoffs across the world—the UK government aims to continue fostering the growth of game development within the region.

Via a press release, the UK Video Games Council is formed of representatives from across the games industry including Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios. Working alongside UK Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Sir Chris Bryant, selected game developers will help to keep the games industry growing within the UK.

The select representatives from across the industry will “”work in partnership with government to support the growth, innovation and international reach of the UK video games and interactive entertainment industry,” the press release reads.

The UK Video Games Council is co-chaired by Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley and Outright Games chair Nick Button-Brown. The following game developers are also part of the government body:

• Larian Studios studio head Tara Saunders
• 4J Studios chairman Chris Van Der Kuyl
• Chucklefish COO Donna Orlowski
• UKIE CEO Nick Poole
• Microsoft Senior Corporate Counsel Tim Varney
• TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson
• Uswto Games VRO Maria Sayans
• Take-Two senior director Dave Gould
• Interior/Night studio director Charu Desodt
• Miniclip CEO Saad Choudri
• Green BiT CEO Emily Bailey

The collective of game developers and studio executives are set to meet twice a year. These meetings will be used to “provide strategic advice on how to unlock the full economic, cultural and educational potential of the UK games industry.”

“The UK’s video games sector is truly world-leading and a vital part of our creative industries,” said the aformentioned Sir Chris Bryant. “As set out in our Creative Industries Sector Plan, we want to make the UK the best place globally to invest in creativity and innovation.”

Surprisingly, the list of selected representatives for the games industry are quite varied and diverse. (To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was comprised of just AAA executives.)

“Selections to the council have been made to reflect the breadth, expertise and leadership across the UK video games and interactive sector,” the UK Video Games Council explains. “Members of the UK Games Council are appointed for an initial term of up to three years – details on the process of future appointments will be issued in due course.”

While it will be a long time until we see any actual results from the group—governments, am I right—it’s exciting to see Britain actually takes games seriously.

Baldur’s Gate 3

• 
  Platform(s):
  macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
• 
  Genre(s):
  Adventure, RPG, Strategy

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