Liverpool City Region aims to inspire generation of video game creators

The new scheme hopes to inspire young people to go from playing video games to creating them

Liverpool City Region has launched a new initiative which it is hoped will "pave the way for the next generation of video game creators".

The authority said Mayor Steve Rotheram's GameChangers would combine the "creative might" of studios, the "expertise of education providers" and the "guidance of careers education" to develop "new learning pathways, partnerships, funding opportunities and ways of working across the region".

Mr Rotheram said it would "support the next generation of video game creators [and] nurture their imagination and fresh ideas".

He added that it would also allow the region to "take one of our fastest-growing industries to the next level".

For Owen Leiper, that commitment cannot come soon enough.

Owen Leiper said at school, he "didn't get any indication or ideas" that game creation was "a viable career"

The 22-year-old is doing a game design and art degree at the City of Liverpool College.

He told BBC Politics North West he got to that stage on his own, because at school, he "didn't get any indication or ideas that this was a viable career".

Mr Leiper added: "I only learned of it when I finished high school and so... I went into it quite under-educated."

Fellow student Daz Blundell said he had a similar experience.

"It would have helped a lot if primary schools, secondary schools [were] giving out the type of knowledge that colleges and universities are giving out," the 20-year-old said.

Daz Blundell said schools "giving out the type of knowledge" higher education does would help

Industry leaders have got behind the help because of concerns about a skills shortage in the burgeoning industry.

Avalanche Studio Group is an international developer and publisher. It has a studio in Liverpool alongside similar sites in Sweden and the United States.

The firm's location manager Alison Lacy is co-chairwoman of the region-wide initiative.

She said GameChangers was set up after a "a group of developers [came] together with the same challenges around skills".

She said the initiative's drive to bring in knowledge of gaming production at a young age could help address that issue by introducing "basic coding skills" at a primary level.

Co-chairs Jamie Brayshaw and Alison Lacy said the initiative could help with a skills shortage locally

Her firm has already pledged to work with local talent at a young age, as have fellow developers D3T, Lucid Games, Ripstone, Scenegraph Studios, Skyhook Games, Universally Speaking, Firesprite and Wushu Studios, along with educational and charity institutions such as Next Gen Skills and the LFC Foundation.

GameChangers co-chairman Jamie Brayshaw is also head of marketing and partnerships at Ripstone.

He said recruiting people "with the right skills" has been a challenge and "a key part of that is opportunities for people to learn the right skills in school".

He said being able to "add digital skills into the mix from school" and give careers advisors the chance to offer "fantastic advice" would be incredibly useful.

Scott O'Leary is hopeful the initiative will be successful and his future will lie in the gaming industry

The Liverpool City Region Careers hub is leading the delivery of GameChangers.

Michelle Dow, the managing director of All About STEM, said collaboration was "absolutely key" to the initiative's success.

She said her organisation, which works with the business and education sectors to deliver projects aimed at young people, was the crucial "jam in the sandwich".

"We are the translator between schools and industry to make sure the message around the game industry is translated in the right language to teachers, young people and parents," she said.

Back at the City of Liverpool College, 18-year-old Scott O'Leary is hopeful the project will be successful and his future will lie in the gaming industry.

"There's a lot of companies in Liverpool and it's an expanding business, so more are going to come in," he said.