Xboxâ??s Gosen calls for dev support

Xbox’s head of European marketing David Gosen has called on the UK government to improve the level of support it provides the games industry.

Writing in his MCV keynote, Gosen states that the game industry should be rewarded for its craft by Government organisations, “giving us incentives to drive development within the region.”

In December, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts warned that the UK game development sector may drop to fifth in global rankings due to a “severe skills shortage and funding crisis”.

Gosen said that the industry needs to take matters into its own hands by engaging with schools and talking to non-governmental organisations.

“If we all gave one per cent of our time to do so,” he said, “all of a sudden you have tens of thousands of advocates promoting the contribution this industry makes to society. We have to stand up proud, work with the media, NGOs and the Government to make a difference.”

Gosen’s full keynote – where he speaks on Nintendo, the image of the industry, and new grounds for the Xbox 360 – can be found here.