2024-08-19
Authors
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Petya Koleva
is a European cultural and creative sectors’ innovation expert based in Sofia. Over the last two decades she has been nurturing international collaboration, engaging with arts, industry, intangible heritage professionals and policy makers across Europe. She is the founder of Intercultura Consult that specialized on developing synergies between arts and innovation.
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Milena Berbenkova
is an audience analysis and development specialist engaged with Intercultura Consult in piloting innovation in the nationally funded incubators "Reconnect: Audiences and Cultural Content in the Digital Environment" and "Time Perspectives: Long-term Benefits of the Culture - Audience Relationship" as well as the ‘’Collab 4 HySust CCIs’’ project focused on the South East Europe region.
Humans at Play (Part I)
Creatives, public and professionals in the game industry of Bulgaria
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The games industry is increasingly becoming a recognised and important factor of the cultural economy. Unique in Europe, the first national survey of the industry in Bulgaria shows that this applies not only in terms of its economic outputs, but also regarding its spill-over effects on the wider cultural sector and beyond, for example in terms of employer attractiveness or future skills.
In 2022, the size of the video game industry in Europe had exploded (DGCOMM 2023, T. Wijman 2023). Additionally, a 2024 report indicates growth in the ‘in-game and in-app purchases’ with a revenue increase of about 6 % to 4.7 billion euros in Germany. It also shows a trend for ‘the playing time of a game to be extended or individualised through additional content’ that illustrates well the way creativity is essential both to the developers and the public.
Although the rising region of South East European (SEE) countries is known for game development since the late 1990s, very scarce data and only partial research was available on the Bulgarian games’ scene. Therefore, the national survey "Humans at Play: Creators and Users” was intended to fill this gap. It is unique as based on primary data obtained from over 1300 people in the Bulgarian ecosystem inhabited by game professionals, consumers (audiences) and creatives from the broader cultural and creative sectors. It interprets the industry appeal in view of gender, cross-innovation, industry awards and the motivation to work on games. As the industry continues to evolve, focus on a diversification of talent; skills; types of games as well as business models is needed.
Framing research goals - why this research?
The 2022 - 2023 project "Humans at Play: Creators and Users” and the continued research efforts of Intercultura Consult were conducted in collaboration with over 20 partners from the academic, creative and the industry sectors in Bulgaria and the SEE region. Key aspects were additionally researched in 2024 to validate key findings and highlight the EU comparative dimensions.
Although Bulgarian composers have been recognised and awarded for music and songs for well-known videogames, the study discovered that almost half of the respondents from the general public were unaware of (any aspect of) game creation in Bulgaria. Reasons for this might be that by now no organization officially represents game developers in Bulgaria and that studios underestimate public promotion.
Therefore, the ambition of the "Humans at Play” project was to analyse the position of the game industry in view of its current standing in the creative ecosystem of Bulgaria. It examined the ecosystem from the viewpoints of the public and of professionals from gaming as well as the broader field of arts and culture. The wider relevance of its findings resonates with the 2023 European Council’s Conclusions on enhancing the cultural and creative dimension of the European video games sector.
The game industry in the South East Europe in 2022-2024
The initial research steps outlined the regional context of the rapidly growing games industry in the Balkans. Game developers’ associations were reporting 17% growth in 2022 in Romania, while 70% of the companies in Serbia focused on team expansion. Set against these numbers, very scarce data and only partial research was available on the 20+ years old Bulgarian scene. The 2021 foundation study "The Bulgarian Gaming Industry: An Overview of Business and Social Impact in The Context of Europe" framed the research focus on humans as the creative/tech factor driving the industry: people who are already part of the industry; the players and audience as well as those who deliver formal and informal education on video games. Not of least importance, research steps addressed creative professionals from diverse artistic practices. The analysis has a specific focus on young people and women to validate European and locally relevant policy recommendations.
Study scope and research design
The economic potential of the industry was analysed from the perspective of its appeal as a field for professional development, attracting people of different ages, gender, experience and also building on a wider skill base. Three anonymous, online surveys and three focus groups (two physical, one online) served to establish contact with the target groups. This methodology was supported in 2024 by an in-depth focus group analysing the women involved in the game industry. (See Figure 1)
Over 1,300 participants took part in the online surveys. They elaborated on their interest in video games as a product as well as an opportunity for professional development. There was also assessment of what they consider to be key game development skills and experience in gaining relevant creative and technical skills. To achieve a comprehensive view of the industry and its potential, the project partnered with diverse organizations - companies from the video games industry (including some that ceased to exist due to economic realities at the time), industry events’ organizers, researchers, and representatives of the cultural sector.
Skill sets and factors driving motivation to work in/with the industry
There were four skill sets established after internal consultation with project partners and aligned to other official sources such as the Finnish Game badges competence map, currently being updated in an EU project "Gamebadges - Skill Mapping and Micro-Credentials for the Game Industry EU" which involves Intercultura Consult, as well as the mapping of the 2022 Creative Assembly "Games Industry Careers”.
These are the skills for each set as illustrated in Figure 2:
- Creative: animation, visual arts (2 D 3D art), music & sound (audio), script;
- Technical: programming, quality assurance, user interface;
- Combined (Mix): Creative - technical: game design skills, seen as industry specific and governing the logic and mechanisms, rules of the game, etc.;
- Business: production, marketing and advertising, incl. community management, business management, project management.
Data was collected from each target group, so the current industry profile presented in this summary is paired among the groups.
Key game industry skills sets recognised by the three target groups
Detailed data analysis demonstrates a shared understanding across the three target groups that creative and technical skills are interlaced in the field of video games. The most widely represented professions in Bulgaria were found to relate to visual arts and animation (creative) skills (44.83% of the surveyed respondents) followed by programming among the technical skills set (28.74%).
Game design is the skill that professionals have defined as the cornerstone among the game development skills, and it is recognised as vital by 81% of the creatives who responded to the survey. (See Figure3)
Finally, a less prominent, yet vital skills set are the business management and marketing skills (60% of the respondents across the groups recognise this skill set). These skills are essential when it comes to European games surfacing in a landscape where thousands of new games are released daily and on cross-platform games which is the new trend (Statista 2024; Hiltuten 2024:35).
Creative skills cross-pollination, the role of creative professionals
A wide range of artists, creatives, cultural heritage and cultural management professionals were an important target group for the study to map the creative ecosystem which supports skills development. Indeed, 80% of them signalled they possess transferable skills applicable to game creation. Detailed data indicated that 61.90% of them already work with technologies such as 3D mapping, AR, VR and gamification.
Additionally, 26.67% express interest in developing tech skills (See Figure 4). The barriers to cross-pollination identified underline limited knowledge of the industry and contacts with game specialists as well insufficient financial means to dive into these skills. Only 11.43% of the respondents manifest disinterest in any game-related prospect.
Thus, there is clearly need for closer synergies between organizations from the different fields of the creative sector and the creative industries in view of skills cross-pollination. Several of the best ways are ‘incubators, FabLabs, coworking spaces’ (Hiltuten K. et al. 2024). Since the region of South East Europe, and Bulgaria particularly, is not very prominent in supporting these forms of ‘innovation’, this has motivated the regional, EU funded Collab 4 HySust CCI three year partnership piloting incubation for CCIs in the SEE region", in which Intercultura Consult is currently engaged. Interim results indicate positive impact on the networked creative ecosystem, an ambition shared by the European games policy summit (NDGC 2024).
Motivation to work in the video game industry
Satisfaction and passion with their work ranked as one of the top factors that motivates people employed in game companies to build a career, including stay in their company and country. The results indicate an intuitive reaction that supports the hypothesis that people who chose this career have often formed a prior positive experience and image of the industry (Figure 5).
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Discussions in the focus groups validated the finding that many young people gain skills informally and, on some occasions, join the industry with very limited formal training. In addition, students tend to get their professional assignments with company projects in the very first year of pursuing Higher Education. This supports the EU vision of micro-credentials as the future being proposed by the Games Badges consortium.
One of the major factors contributing to industry growth is the motivation of professionals to develop a career while gaining new skills, but how is the industry recruiting new talent?
Factors motivating new talent to join the video game industry
Motivation is a key factor for the recruitment of new professionals who have not (yet) considered this career choice. Among the general audience, young people particularly, the appeal of the industry was analysed in terms of four important motivation factors (Figure 6):
- The opportunity for self-expression and development - as opposed to limitations;
- The working environment - team and workplace;
- The quality of projects they are involved in;
- The value of labour in view of remuneration received on the job.
- Creative expression leads in the factors influencing the public interest in a career in video game creation. Resonating with this choice, the creative work process emerges as one of the most significant motivations for professionals of all aspects in video game creation. By contrast, creatives and cultural workers considered creative expression in the video game sector as a factor of limitation. With cultural/artistic careers generally being driven by a pursuit of artistic/creative or cultural good, 39.05% of these respondents saw the industry aspect of game creation as a potential barrier that might stop them from seeking engagement in the games industry.
- The second factor motivating professionals and and the fourth for creatives to work in the games industry is the work environment and teamwork. This indicates a strong sense of team play. However, working in an office (as part of the work environment) is the second most demotivating factor for artists and creatives. Additionally, artists perceive working for a company (team) as a limitation to their ‘creative freedom’.
- Working with technology and a good renumeration are ranked as second and third most important motivational factors that draw the audience at large towards the game industry. For the game professionals, these two factors are far less significant, the 6th place is assigned to remuneration and the last is technology.
Creatives and cultural workers see the reward of labour as the most motivating factor while working with technology is ranked in the 3rd place. As being a creative belongs to the lower income jobs in Bulgaria, the remuneration level in the gaming industry is a factor motivating significant interest. - The fourth most prominent factor motivating game professionals and the second most appealing to creatives are the (high) quality game projects. The respondents also underlined that taking pride in their achievements and competing with others on a national and international level is highly motivating. The chance to promote one’s talent and gain international visibility via a game-related project is also the second most motivating factor for creatives to consider joining the industry.
Support and Policy Recommendations
The study validates key policy recommendations of the 2023 study of the European video games sector and of study "The state of the European game industry and how to unleash its full potential" (Hiltuten K. et al. 2024). Its findings provide insights on the development of the video game industry in general, indicate its potential for Bulgaria within the larger SEE context, also applicable to other regions in Europe. In spite of the sector’s harsh conditions of 2024, economic and industry forecasts signal a need for skilled workers in the gaming industry, specifically for those able to expand on their portfolio of skills sets and in command of technological advances. The cultural sector at large is faced by the same qualified labour demand as it addresses the digital transformations and EU heritage cloud reuse for example. Women and the use of AI are discussed in the upcoming publication of the Humans at Play study. There, the specific advantages that implicitly apply to other countries’ contexts are illustrated:
- The position of the video game industry as one of the creative industries is clearly established. The use of creative and technical skills forming the backbone of the video game industry is already prominent among artists, creatives and the cultural sector at large. They use technology and there is high motivation to engage with games and collaborate with game professionals. Particularly, the free or independent scene of micro and small enterprises working in Visual arts, Performance, Design collaborate with indie game studios and create games, integrate XR etc.
- One of the validated findings regards the creative process and creative expression being key factors that are motivating young people to embark on a career path in this industry. This is paired with the motivation factors for professionals in the sector. Another important finding is that ‘seasoned’ professionals also define their career as one that was evolved from their hobby and this impacts the fact, they value team work and the creative process leading to high quality (competitive projects) highly.
References
- DGCOMM, ECORYS, KEA, Understanding the value of a European video games society - Final report, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023.
- Hiltuten K. et al., The State of the European Game Industry and how to unleash its full potential. Published by EIT CULTURE & CREATIVITY, 2024.
- Koleva P. and Berbenkova M. Humans at Play: Skills & Motivation in the Games Industry as Part of the Creative Ecosystem - Video presentation at Nordic Conference, May 22,2024 open policy session.
- SPECTRA Creative Territories and Regional Actors
- Purga, Cacciatoreb &Čuček Gerbec (2023), Establishing ecosystems for disruptive innovation by cross-fertilizing entrepreneurship and the art, Creative industries Journal 2023, vol. 16, no. 2, 115-145.
- Simon Torkington (2023) How might generative AI change creative jobs?, WE Forum.
- Wijman, T, Newzoo’s games market revenue estimates and forecasts by region and segment for 2023, 08.02.2024.
- Common European data space for cultural heritage.
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