The government has reneged on its promises to the gaming industry

NATIONAL BUDGET: The government will not strengthen industry-building measures in the games industry this time either. General manager of Noneda, Sylvia Duerr, believes they are running away from their promises.

– When the current government took office, they promised to invest in industry-building measures in the videogames industry. The gaming industry has great potential for growth, but we must take joint, competence-raising measures in the industry itself, as other countries have done, not just focus on development grants for individual games.

– Politicians from both ruling parties have agreed with us on this. In connection with the national budget for 2022, we heard that time was too short from when they took over, for them to be able to fulfill their promises. The promised investment also failed to materialize in 2023, but we were referred to the videogame strategy that was soon to be presented.

– Now we are at the point where, in 2024, there will be no investment in industry-building and skills-development in the industry itself, and the videogame strategy is still in the blue. It is positive that grants for game development are increasing and that NFI is getting better framework conditions, but the government has had three national budgets to deliver on promises about strengthening networks in the industry itself. Now I’m afraid the government has simply run away from its promises to the gaming industry.

Will have consequences for what can be offered to the industry

Noneda is the only organization for games in Norway that primarily deals with courses, conferences and skills development for the computer game industry as a whole. Without more support from the government, those services to companies is now at risk.

We run the industry’s largest professional conference for games development (Konsoll), as well as arrange a number of courses and workshops that are available free of charge to all small and large companies in the games industry in Norway. The feedback we get from those who participate is very good, and we also feel that the politicians are cheering us on. But the money is not forthcoming.

We have maintained and further developed Noneda’s offer through good financial management and many good efforts for several years, but now we have reached a point where the state must deliver on its promises to invest more in industry-building measures, or we will have to cut what we can offer to the companies . It is mainly sad for the many committed game companies and developers in Norway, who need those services for skills development, exchange of experience and networking, concludes Duerr.