Story
Video games are more than just entertainment; they combine technology with creativity and provide engaging experiences fostering feelings of community and shaping cultural identities. With more than half of the European population engaging with video games, they have become part of our social and cultural lives. Therefore, there is great potential to connect video games with wider cultural industries. GAMEGEARTS aims to explore how video games can enhance engagement with live music, heritage, and sports. To achieve this, we have partnered with key cultural institutions: the London Symphony Orchestra, the Imperial War Museum, and City Football Group to develop video game experiences. These collaborations will not only leverage the potential of video games to promote more inclusive and cultural experiences but also establish how partnerships with wider cultural sectors can in turn also contribute to and enrich the games industry.
Process
GAMEHEARTS is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme and constitute a consortium of nine partners. The academic partners are the Universities of Salford (UK), Tampere University (Finland), University of Vienna (Austria), Breda University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), and Wroclaw University of Economics and Business (Poland). The project involves Ubisoft (France) as an industry partner, and three cultural partners: the London Symphony Orchestra, The Imperial War Museum and City Football Group.
The initial phase of the project involved a series of workshops with the industry and policy makers and was aimed at steering the direction of the research. The following phase involved research insight into the business side of the video game industry, examining the relevant policy characteristics of the video games sector, and exploring how video game audiences use and connect with games. Drawing from these insights and informed by discussions and with our cultural partners and their audiences, Cradle will design and develop a series of video games in September 2026 as part of Phase three of GAMEHEARTS.
Results
The Cradle research and development team have begun initial discussions with the three cultural partners which will feed into design briefs after which game development will commence.
Research Output
Please refer to the GAMEHEARTS website for our newsletters and blogposts for project updates and outputs.
