The British Games Institute - Help Make the BGI a Reality!

Signed. Definitely something that is necessary! Also, Ian Livingstone made my childhood!

Signed

I think it's cool you're backing this kind of initiative, Turps. But as an outsider of the UK I was curious about the proposal. I read the petition and checked out the BGI website. It looks like they want to create a government backed organization that will take a leading role in funding, supporting, and (for lack of a better word) promoting games in British society. Is that right?

As an American, that kind of concept is a bit foreign to me. We have the National Endowment for the Arts, but public support for things like this is scattershot at best.

How would the BGI in practical ways help games developers? Would they provide a publicly-funded (I'm assuming via taxes) grant for games companies to draw from? Perhaps help indie devs get some seed money? Would they advocate the importance of games in the media--in such places as the BBC--to change public perception (maybe have staff or a group that contributes to articles and other content)? Would they help young people get education or training that would equip them for careers in game development?

My other thought is, would this give the government greater control over how games are made/distributed/consumed in Britain? Again in America, we always are concerned with how government involves itself in these matters. We welcome support and funding, but wilt at government regulation and demands (especially ones that are unforeseen at the outset). Is it possible, given time, that this gives the UK government too much control over how games are consumed--perhaps they might even institute a board that censors or limits controversial games, like GTA?

I'm sure you don't have every answer, but I'm curious as to your thoughts.

Just asking these questions as an outside observer, because I find the concept of BGI fascinating and exciting.

I do hope it succeeds and you get the signatures you need.

Signed and tweeted thanks for telling me about this.

All sounds great. But I see one small problem. People that sign that aren't necessarily British and therefore inflate the petition. Is this just ignored and anyone should still sign this if they aren't against it even if it might not be for their country ?

I miss god-tier misplays...

Great cause. Games have a huge future in both the progression of technology and improvement of education. Gaming needs better public representation.

I think the government has way more important things to be focusing on at the moment, so I'm not sure this is really the best cause. Having said that, since this is happening anyway, it would be a shame if there weren't enough signatures and the higher ups could use it as an example to push the line about games being damaging and not influential, so I will sign it.

as a german game dev i have to say that it hurts that the industry really is not recognized very well here neither.. hope the uk can push this a bit♥

Signed up but I expect another 100 episodes of tipoaa :P

So you want the government to subsidize you in the middle of what remoaners would call a crisis? Hmm, maybe you're hanging around BBC employees too much...

I really, really like this kind of videos and the intentions behind it! YogsCast is not only about "Playing" games. It is about "Living" games. Not only YogsCast as a unit. Every YogsCast member is doing it. You want to improve the world. And this is something, I respect and honor. Thank you Turps for the initiative. You are awesome.

I'm a little worried about letting the gov get involved into games. Surely like television once they start funding it, they will want greater control over it's content.

I think the Government has more important things on its plate right now, but I think having the equivalent of the British Film Institute for video games could really be a great thing to have.

Books LUL

hello turps, i am a 3d artist at Bohemia Interactive and well us artists and game designers are looked down upon as we are considered to "not have real jobs" by most people who are not in the industry (funny as we make more than are lot of people) i will support this as i know many others at our offices will as well, i speak for just artists now - we are not classed as real artists and our work is compared to that of a hobbyist, what people dont understand is to become a 3d artist you have to study life drawing, painting techniques, form and all the other stuff traditional artists do, games design is an art form and in many ways is more so than things like sculpture and painting, mainly because we have to sculpt things like characters and have to paint things for texturing.

moving topic a little, we work closely with the army to make simulations, games have a huge impact on the military and the military has a huge impact on games because we both share and upgrade each others technology, a lot of early games tech came from the military, and a lot of the modern army stuff has come from upgraded pc tech, helping games to progress means helping other things progress

the Notorious BGI

Sounds good to me. RuneScape was a large part of my childhood, as was the case with a lot of gamers especially in the UK as Jagex is a British company. Seeing the old outdated media desperately grasping at any attempt to make video games seem like a terrible thing always makes me chuckle at how ridiculous it is. Though that thought process will be phased out along with older generations that have never touched a video game in their life, it'd be welcome to see that misinformation dismissed even faster.

You got my vote

shame that i am dutch i don't count for british petitions

You could make me vote for anything! Turps for prime minister!

Turps can never decide on what title the video should be

Thank you for shedding some light on this! As a soon-to-be graduate Games Designer, this will help both my own and my peers' futures!

I'm against government spending but this sounds like a good idea if low cost or private.

Signed. It's time the government appreciated the impact of games on many peoples lives. Probably taken so long because 90% of the people in parliament haven't heard of games other than Pac-Man or Tetris.

Signed up. Shared everywhere I could. Wishing BGI all the best. I live in South Africa. But every signature helps, you know? Just doing my small bit to try make games and the gaming community a better place.

Although I love the idea of promoting a different perception of games and helping dev's, I have 2 issues with this idea.  
The first of which is that I'm not a big fan of government interference in private industries, especially an industry so creative and that often touches on controversial topics.
My other point would be that in my personal opinion, whilst I love video games, in a time when funds are being heavily cut from organisations as integral as the police and military I don't know that one of my top priorities for the re-direction of government funds is a government funded video game initiative.
Of course that's just personal opinion and I do like the sentiment.

I play destiny, now i kill aliens whenever they come to earth... gaming is a sin...

Not but on a real level as someone who has had there life almost completely ruined anxiety brought on by other more physical illness i have no idea what id do without gaming, the amount of stuff iv learned the people iv met in countries i would probably never be able to go too due to my problems yet it's still a bad thing? i dont understand that stigma but you know... spent better part of my life 3D modeling and editing too work in the games industry and even with that dream taken from me some of the best life experiences iv had have been thanks too gaming and shockingly iv not killed raped or murdered anyone because of it?

if anything gaming gave me more of a reason to carry on trying so i can put my skills too good use somehow , sappy and cleci or dumb i know but this industry has been my life and i know there will be kids like me who want to 3d model or voice act in games who are told by there teachers like i was "there is no money in it" even though back they it was a million pound industry and has only climbed since then! but people put kids down as they dont know the inside or even any ways to find help on how to start working towards the industry it's shocking.

Funding a game development industry like the Polish government is trying to do with CDPR sounds like a great idea and sounds really well fitted to the Tertiary and Quaternary sectors that the UK is known for.
Just don't want a BBC equivalent because of government regulations and the infamous British laws on internet privacy

Totally agree and signed the petition. The games industry made twice as much as the entirety of Hollywood last year yet it's still not taken seriously and is seen as a gimmick or some such crap whilst films are apparently an 'art form' and actors are treated like royalty.

The last thing the games industry needs is the government poking their grubby little fingers in. Far too much corruption in all these "bodies".

maybe you could get funding from the EU... oh wait

Not 100% sure why I watched this whole video when I don't live in the UK.

this needs further discussion

done, can't afford to donate but I shared it

Can people outside of the UK sign?

As long as this institute doesnt end up like the BBC im game

I want to study game design at university next year so I'm behind this all the way.

Signed and passed on. We need this, I’m sick of hearing how bad games are for kids. They are not bad. They help. I’m autistic and they helped me.

I don't need the government to tell me what games are good.

If rather not have a Tory government fucking the gaming industry

With all due respect, this is a great idea Turps but I do not think this is really worth taxpayers money... Our NHS and schools ect ect need funding. If we had a budget surplus like Germany well then yes.

I’m a fan of the Yogscast and I do this kind of thing for a living. I’m not sure you’ll get (nor actually want) Government funding for this kind of thing. BFI is National Lottery funded I think. If you had Government funding you would be limited in what you could say/do. Happy to help if I can.

Why would I want the government to take control of the gaming industry? No thanks

Not british but i agree that its a good idea.

I signed. I hope this makes a difference, even though I cant donate. Whoop.

Uh, no. Government doesn't need to waste any more money on worthless garbage.

Thaks Turps for bringing some attention to this, anything that can help smaller games studios would be great !