Gamers of the World Unite!
By David Barrie, co-Founder of Game Academy
Division and disconnection is a hallmark of our time. It exists at a constitutional level between Government and Parliament, geographically between North and South and at a most local level in the spatial division between rich and poor.
The direction of the new economy only serves to accentuate this, pitting high-skilled against low-skilled, city vs country, the empowered against the disempowered.
All start-up ventures have a motivation — social impact ventures especially — and it has been this problem of division in society that has driven me to co-found Game Academy, a new tech venture devised to enable players of video games to maximise and capitalise upon their in-game talent out-of-game.
There are 2.5bn players of video games across the world. Half of the UK population plays video games. In a survey in the USA of people earning less than $30,000p.a. almost half played games. What’s more, there’s a correspondence between the demographics of players in the UK and places and communities forecast to be impacted by automation and AI.
Take a closer look at the skills of the future, forecast by the likes of the World Economic Forum, McKinsey and Nesta, and video games fast turn into an extraordinary harbour of hidden talent. Strategy games like Civilization, Into the Breach and XCOM2 are great at encouraging the understanding of processes. First person shooter and multiplayer online battle games like Call of Duty and Dota 2 are great at encouraging teamwork. There are many other correlations, not least between games and ‘meta-skills’ — general and reusable skills which either apply broadly to a wide set of problems, or help you acquire other more specific skills.
With Game Academy, we are developing a suite of software tools that will allow game players to analyse and understand their in-game achievement, apply that talent to learn new skills using the games that they love and then connect them to technical education, industry-specific training or directly into work. Games and gaming as a passport to success.
In pursuit of a less divided society, it’s a no-brainer to seek, celebrate and build agency through the things that people enjoy most. In pursuit of a more productive, growth-orientated economy, seek hidden talent and put it to work. Also in pursuit of success in the new emerging economy, make sure people have the right skills to succeed.
One of the many beauties of video games is that they demand a digital-first mindset. What’s more, in an age of increasingly ‘gamified’, casual and remote work, they offer credentials well suited to people who want to lead a life without having to leave their home town.
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David Barrie is co-founder of Game Academy. We have just launched our first fundraise. An early release/beta version of our first analytics tool and learning course is now available at our website. We have exciting new partnerships growing with FTSE100 companies, major public bodies, a global top 10 esports company and major recruiters. And we run regular talks and events to celebrate and interrogate super-talented game play. Follow us here, join our private Facebook page and find me here or at david@gameacademy.co
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