UK games industry trade body Ukie has today announced the members of its UK Esports Advisory Panel, designed to bridge the sector with government.
It includes industry veterans such as Michael ‘ODEE’ O’Dell, Scan Computers Director of Esports and Gaming, and Andy Payne, Chair of the British Esports Federation, with senior team organization figures such as Claire Hungate of Team Liquid and Darren Pilkington of Fnatic, with others including presenter and content creator Frankie Ward, and James Dean, who previously led ESL UK.
This new industry-led forum is billed as ‘a single, trusted voice to help the Government get esports right’ and ‘ensure the UK remains a world leader in this industry’.
The group will provide ‘structured, evidence-based engagement between government and the esports sector, bringing together senior voices from publishers, teams, events, grassroots and education’.
The panelists are:
- Daniele Schmidt-Fischer, Ukie
- Andy Payne, British Esports Federation
- Andy Tomlinson, Electronic Arts
- Claire Hungate, Team Liquid
- Darren Pilkington, Fnatic
- Frankie Ward, Freelancer
- James Dean, Kuoda Ltd
- James Fraser-Murison, Fraser Esports
- Joe Lovelace, BLAST
- John Jackson, Esports Wales
- Lewis Kay, Esports Youth Club
- Mark McCready, Scottish Esports
- Michael O’Dell, Scan Computers
- Mitsouko Anderson, Yume Talent
- Nathan Edmonds, Get In
- Neale Maker, Ubisoft
- Nick Caplin, ESL FACEIT Group
- Saahib Singh Reehal, The Football Association
- Sam Cooke, The Insights Group
- Riot Games
While the Riot Games figure hasn’t been announced, The Esports Advocate understands it’s a senior figure focused on the EMEA region.
The news comes after Ian Murray, the Minister for Creative Industries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, spoke at the recent London Games Festival, confirming the panel would be forming.
The UK Government also announced a £30m Games Growth Package at the event. This includes an expanded UK Games Fund of £28.5m, offering grants to developers, plus £1.5m awarded to the London Games Festival over the next three years.
Nick Poole OBE, Chief Executive of Ukie, said: “We welcome the Government’s Games Growth Package as a strong vote of confidence in the UK games industry. Targeted support across the development pipeline will help studios start, scale and stay globally competitive. We will continue working closely with Government to support growth, drive innovation, and create high-quality jobs across the country.”
Ukie has gathered esports panels and published whitepapers on UK esports in the past. But the latest panel has been formed with a more specific focus to better engage with and educate the UK Government.
Esports-specific UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Codes were also announced earlier this year. It’s hoped these will provide greater recognition of the industry at the government level, with the potential to better track the size of the UK esports industry, encourage investment and create more jobs.