Great potential for the Swedish games industry as a catalyst for innovation

The computer games industry has a technological maturity and a unique innovation process that could drive the Swedish economy and public sector forward. But Sweden must first welcome the industry into the big leagues.

Swedish companies and public organisations, especially those that deliver digital products or have a digital interface with their customers, could learn and benefit from the computer games industry.  

"Many people have an image of games as something that children play with, or as something dangerous and bad. But we are dealing with a high-tech industry that is at the forefront of technology and works in a very experimental way. The gaming industry combines several factors that Sweden has long been known for - engineering, innovation and creative industries, says Björn Flintberg, a researcher at RISE and an industrial doctoral student at Luleå University of Technology.

Game companies make customers co-creators of the product

Over the past decade, it has become increasingly common to involve customers in the sales process, for example by offering the possibility of personalisation. Game companies go one step further. Games are often released in beta versions before the final product is ready, allowing players to be co-creators.

"The industry works with human creativity as the engine of product development, quality assurance and innovation processes," says Björn Flintberg. 

He believes that many companies would benefit from adopting this approach. In addition, gaming technology can be used as a method or tool to find new solutions.

"Urban planning is a good example. Incredibly complex, with large binders and lots of drawings. Yet gaming companies manage to make city simulators that take 20 minutes to get started. Games allow experimentation and trial and error that we don't have access to otherwise. Whether it is a production process or a question of democracy, games open up the possibility of getting feedback that is not static," Flintberg says.  

No targeted national initiative despite the weight of the industry

 In order for the rest of the economy and the public sector to benefit from the computer games industry as an innovation catalyst and problem solver, the industry itself needs to be strengthened.  

Exports from Swedish computer games companies amount to more than SEK 32 billion. This can be compared to the music industry's export value of around SEK 9 billion. Despite the large contribution to Swedish exports, there is still no targeted national initiative to strengthen the gaming industry.  

"In Finland, SEK 120 million is invested annually, and in Denmark, where there is hardly a gaming industry to speak of, a gaming research institute has been established. In Norway, national strategies have been developed at the level of the Ministry of Economic Affairs," says Björn Flintberg:

"Here in Sweden, work with the gaming industry is done at regional or municipal level. I would like to see the issue taken up at national level. Both for the sake of the industry and so that the rest of society can benefit from its potential."

Skills shortage must be addressed 

"Such a strategy should also address the skills shortage", says Björn Flintberg. Today, many Swedish game companies choose to set up in other countries in order to gain access to programmers whose niche is game development.

"There is a huge shortage of people here in Sweden. More than 30,000 by 2030, according to one forecast. The availability of training places is therefore important for the future, not least at universities, which have a greater opportunity to scale up than polytechnics," he says, and continues:  

"We also see shortcomings on the research side. We know that when new things come out of academia, it boosts an industry and an economy, but today there is almost no dedicated funding for gaming research. Gaming research spans several different sciences, and funding often means that research on games is related to other phenomena."

RISE was one of the parties involved in setting up the Swedish Games Research Council, an advocacy organisation that aims to raise the profile and strengthen Swedish gaming research. At the time of writing, in the autumn of 2023, around 60 researchers from 15 universities are members. The next step could be a government-funded graduate school where universities and colleges work together to train tomorrow's games researchers. 

What role can RISE play in strengthening the gaming industry and enabling industry and the public sector to learn and benefit? 

"We can hopefully open different kinds of doors than the gaming industry can open on its own. It's about creating dialogues with different types of national stakeholders and helping to strengthen research through our collaborations with different universities. By working directly with industry and the public sector, we can also contribute to the implementation of 'serious games' that can be used for staff training, for example. We have an important role to play here," says Björn Flintberg.