“Games” – it’s not just playing about

Using games in teaching “boosts grades and student satisfaction” states Times Higher Education on April 21. Research from Joshua Fullard and colleagues at Warwick shows that students learning statistics on a course including “games” as a way of learning achieved a median grade of 69%, compared to 60% for a control group taught using traditional “chalk and talk” methods.

Once you start looking, you find that gaming and games-based thinking has a central role to play in many areas of life – from cancer research to surgical training, from language learning to government.

Games matter, but the sector suffers from a prejudiced view about it.

In 2022 the games market was worth $182 billion, very similar in size to the size of the Cyber and Fintech markets and more than double that of the AI sector. Yet it has received much less of the funding and recognition of its impact on our lives than any of those other sectors.  And with gaming growing exponentially, not least through our phones, its uses and consequences are becoming more of a strategic opportunity and concern for all of us.

As Brian Baglow, who’s been in the games industry for 30 years, told us, games are no longer mere ‘entertainment’ products, aimed at a core demographic, they now reach far beyond consoles and are having a colossal impact in areas from education and fashion to healthcare and beyond. Games are being used to create educational experiences for cultural and heritage locations (eg Robert Burns’ Ellisland home, recreated in Minecraft). The tools and technology from games are transforming the screen industries, thanks to virtual production, real-time animation and immersive experiences.  And real-world brands are now recognising games as a key way to reach a whole new audience, disengaged from traditional media (Gen Z, etc.) while interactive technologies offer traditional arts and creative organisations the opportunity to create entirely new forms of engagement.

We were delighted to host Brian– and are thrilled to share his slides and a recording of the event below where he illustrated the whole ecosystem that exists around gaming  and its ongoing expansions.  There were plenty of questions and comments, and we could easily have continued well beyond the allotted time.

GameShift are therefore delighted to confirm that we will be working with Brian and his colleagues at Scottish Games Week throughout 2024.  There will be more events and more shared thinking as we work with Brian and the games sector to explore the boundaries of this exciting space …

Our next pop up is with Dr Sybille Schiffmann, on the 8th May, exploring how shifting to a shared leadership culture can be negotiated, where increasingly leadership influence and power is shared with others beyond the formal leadership roles and positions, where their ‘voice’ really matters. You can find out more and register here.