Driven by the successes of digital leisure games industry (now is even outperforming both the film industry and the music industry), games are increasingly being used for serious purposes in health, education, industry and public administration. Because of the mix of creative design, new technologies and the engaging qualities of it offers, applied gaming is considered the frontrunner in creative industries, capable of procuring a flourishing market that would create new jobs and at the same time contribute to social innovation by addressing societal problems in the fields of e.g. media literacy, education, cultural heritage and social inclusion.
Although its business growth potential is widely recognised, the applied game industry displays many features of an emerging, immature branch of business, such as weak interconnectedness of a large number of independent players, limited knowledge exchange, and absence of harmonising standards. In addition, the upfront investments needed for developing quality games are high, and product quality tends to be well below leisure games standards.
Supported by the Horizon2020 programme of the European Commission RAGE has made available a set of advanced game software components that assist game developers at creating applied games easier, faster and more cost-effectively. Components cover a wide range of game functionalities particularly relevant for applied gaming (e.g. learning analytics, learning assessment, emotion recognition, adaptation, text analysis, among other topics). RAGE has used the technology components in newly developed games and tested their applicability in real world application scenarios in diverse usage contexts. RAGE has worked in close co-operation with principal stakeholders across Europe, e.g. applied game studios, applied gaming hubs, national and international associations, to be able to take into account developer needs and to obtain comments and feedback about the new technologies. All software components and additional knowledge resources are now openly accessible through the RAGE portal at gamecomponents.eu. The portal enable game studios to offer new and better products to a wider variety of marketplaces and to adopt innovative business models and new commercialisation channels. The portal and its activities are now covered by the RAGE Foundation, which the legal entity established by the RAGE consortium to preserve sustained exploitation.
