According to research by dr. Mijke Slot and others, Rotterdam has many opportunities in the field of Serious Gaming and has potential to become the leading center in this field.
Serious games are aimed at learning and the development of knowledge. Research conducted over the past two years by Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communciation and Culture, Hogeschool Rotterdam and ELM Concepts, commissioned by Rotterdam Media Commission, shows that the city has potential to become the leading center in this field. The serious gaming industry can structurally stimulate and innovate economic sectors such as the Port of Rotterdam. Furthermore, the research shows that serious gaming can play an important role socially. The research ‘Serious Gaming in Rotterdam’ will be presented on June 23 at Ranj Serious Games, a successful business in Rotterdam.
Rotterdam houses a concentration of developers in the new industry of serious gaming. Serious gaming provides opportunities for the renewal of strong clusters, such as the port industrial complex (including logistics and petrochemicals), horticulture and the water and delta sector. It enables to develop products and services, but also to maintain and increase the knowledge and skills of the working talents in the port in a sophisticated matter. This also applies to the medical cluster in Rotterdam. Serious gaming furthermore offers great potential to finding new innovative ways of recruiting staff.
On a social level, serious gaming can play an important role as well, for example in education. The area has high rates of school dropout. Serious gaming can contribute to reducing these rates: it offers opportunities for educational reform, for example through a better integration of learning and curriculum to the environment of young people. Serious gaming is also important as an independent new industry that creates economic value and employment.
Currently, there are numerous initiatives and developments in the field of serious gaming. However, research shows that there are still a lot of opportunities to create more structure and cohesion. Furthermore, there should be closer cooperation with the training and institutions of research and knowledge in the area. Demand from customers in the city and region is still very sparse, which suggests that there is still much room for improvement.
Cooperation
The study declares that when business in Rotterdam is left to take its course, the development of serious gaming in the region of Rotterdam will likely stagnate in spite of the many opportunities that exist there. To exploit the opportunities, a development program is needed in which the industry itself, the government, research institutions and strong sectors in Rotterdam work together. This also requires attention to both finance and business development and technology development and innovation. This can ensure that Rotterdam and the region becomes a leading center of serious gaming.
The research was conducted by Mijke Slot (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication), Paul Rutten (Kenniscentrum Creating010 at Hogeschool Rotterdam) and Matthijs Leendertse (ELM Concepts), commissioned by Rotterdam Media Commission, which will continue as the Rotterdam Creative Commission.