Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 14, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The EU Commission intends to confirm computer games as part of culture. This information leaked out during the presentation of the German Developer Award at Essen’s Lichtburg. Until now, computer games were regarded merely as consumer goods. Various efforts by international associations and initiatives had repeatedly tried in recent years to set a rethink in people’s minds in motion. Now this has apparently succeeded. Industry representatives speak of a milestone for the computer games industry and an important signal to the public. “Games are culture with immediate effect”, announces, for example, Stephan Reichart, initiator of the Developer Award for computer games. Although an official statement from Brussels is not yet available, it is expected to follow in the next few days.
“Computer games combine everything that we have called culture for decades”, explains Stephan Reichart, chief executive of G.A.M.E., the German Federal Association of Computer Game Developers http://www.game-bundesverband.de, in an interview with pressetext. Storytelling, cinema effects, emotions, narrative aspects, orchestral music – all these artistic elements can also be found today in virtual game worlds. Through the advance of technological development, all elements that make up culture can now be integrated into computer games without difficulty. In this respect, therefore, there is no longer any essential difference from other areas such as film, which is unequivocally recognised as a cultural asset. “On Wednesday, the European developers’ association received information directly from the EU Commission according to which computer games are to be confirmed as part of culture”, Reichart describes.
“An official confirmation would above all be an important social signal”, the industry representative says. It would ultimately also express that the economic importance of computer games is recognised by politicians. “I see this confirmation as a great first step in the right direction”, Reichart says. This step is particularly important because it could reduce the danger of Germany losing touch with the world market. “Unlike the US computer games market, which is far ahead of the German one in many areas, this country has not yet managed to establish its own cultural scene in the field of computer games”, Reichart analyses the problem. Yet precisely this emergence of its own scene is of decisive importance.
Thomas Jarzombek, a member of the state parliament and media-policy spokesman for the CDU, also brought welcome news for the German computer games industry to the award ceremony. He announced that the federal government would initiate an innovation prize for German computer games for the first time. Through funding of 600,000 euros, the future potential of computer games was to be supported, the CDU politician said.