European Union pushed to create long-term video games and esports strategy

The European Parliament's Culture and Education committee is pushing for the European Union to develop a strategy for video games and esports.

The movement: The committee has had a proposition accepted that will see a vote take place on devising a strategy.

• Culture and Education MEPs have called for the parliament to acknowledge the "strong growth and innovation potential" of the games industry in European.
• They're pushing for a European long-term video game strategy to be developed, including increasing the number of studios in the continent.
• It believes that it's currently "struggling with a chronic talent shortage" and a boost in national support for companies via greater funding and exemptions in the European state aid rules.
• "Although half of Europeans are gamers, the sector does not benefit from a dedicated strategy at EU level, whether it is to protect intellectual property, channel investment or promote our know-how”, said rapporteur Laurence Farreng.
• The European Parliament will vote on the resolution on November 9-10.

Further proposals: The committee isn't stopping there when it comes to games and esports.

• It proposed that a European Video Game Observatory be created to provide "harmonised" data and recommendations to stakeholders.
• The committee also wants an EU archive to be launched in order to preserve culturally significant European video games and ensure their "playability" in the future.
• Additionally, it wants video games and esports to be adopted in schools to help students develop digital literacy, soft skills, and creative thinking.
• Importantly, it's also calling for the EU to address doping and match-fixing in esports.