Anglia Ruskin launches Reactor initiative to assist with applied games

Anglia Ruskin university have today launched a new initiative, Reactor, to help grow the applied games across the Cambridgeshire region.

£1m in funding has been earmarked for Reactor, coming from Anglia Ruskin and the European Regional Development Fund. Reactor is hoping to help small and medium sized businesses in the region to, according to the press release, "innovate and develop new applied games products and services to meet the future challenges facing society"

Reactor will offer a range of support in the form of consultancy, knowledge sharing, meet-ups and competitions as soon as this month, and plan to open a small grants program and incubation space in early 2017.

In a statement, Dr Andy Salmon, Deputy Dean of Anglia Ruskin’s Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, said: “With an estimated 64% of the UK population engaging in gaming, it is clear that this is a primary communication media for the 21st century.

“Combined with Anglia Ruskin’s strengths in multiple research disciplines, we believe we can create a huge opportunity to apply gamification to all manner of social and economic issues.”

Anglia Ruskin is in the centre of Cambridgeshire’s tech cluster, and each year hosts Brains Eden, the largest student games festival in Europe.