Realising an Applied Gaming Eco-system

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.

RAGE has designed and validated a technical framework for the development of software components, which supports the interoperability and portability of components across different game engines, platforms and programming languages: that is, RAGE-compliant software components can be easily ported and integrated in a diversity of game engines. Hereby the RAGE components offer a toolbox for the swift inclusion of respective functionalities without the need for detailed programming. Over 40 software components have been developed. All of these components have been integrated in newly designed serious games which were tested in real-world conditions with real end-users. All components are accessible at the RAGE portal at gamecomponents.eu.

The RAGE game component architecture, the specific repository infrastructure and the associated game component metadata definition are original contributions to the field. RAGE compliant components allow for being reused in a variety of technical conditions and thus accommodate game developers at developing applied games more efficiently and making them better suited for their purpose. By gradually involving and connecting a wider range of stakeholders, both from applied game studios and research institutes, the community building and harmonisation of the applied gaming industry take shape.

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - RAGE (Realising an Applied Gaming Eco-system)

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