Games Up campaign prepares to lobby Parliament

The organisers of the Games Up campaign have put out a call to action for further backing from UK games firms.

With the launch of the official Games Up campaign site at www.gamesup.co.uk and plans to start lobbying parliament directly, the organisers are looking to drive further support from games studios and publishers in the UK after a month of intensive press activity.

"The Games Up? campaign has gained unprecedented and positive coverage for the development industry in mainstream media. A wide range of national and local media covered the campaign including BBC1 Breakfast and News at One, BBC News 24, Radio 4’s The Today programme, Radio Five Live and a wide range of local radio stations," said an official statement from the campaign.

"The campaign launched in the Mail on Sunday and was also covered in The Times, twice in the Financial Times and the Guardian, and a wide range of online news outlets. Campaign spokespeople Ian Livingstone, David Braben, Richard Wilson, Sarah Chudley, Jamie MacDonald and Rick Gibson have been hard at work promoting the campaign’s aims of getting more Government assistance with costs and skills shortage."

The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the threat to the UK in the from of ‘a formidable combination of negative factors including high costs, substantial government assistance overseas and a skills shortage’

Announced early last month, the campaign is sponsored by over 15 UK studios and trade bodies Tiga and ELSPA.

Richard Wilson, CEO of Tiga commented: “The campaign has made great strides so far. We urge as many companies as possible to sign the petition on the Games Up website so we can all work together to influence government policy.”

The campaign’s next phase of lobbying now begins, and will include constituency MP visits to games studios, policy round tables and engagement with Parliamentary committee members and policy-makers.