IGF 2021 WS #124 Videogames and their Uniting Power - Everything you need to know about enabling environments and new trends

Time
Wednesday, 8th December, 2021 (11:00 UTC) - Wednesday, 8th December, 2021 (12:30 UTC)
Room
Hall A3

Organizer 1: Anna Dachowska, Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
Organizer 2: Joanna Kupka, Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
Organizer 3: Victor Owade, World Intellectual Property Organisation 
Organizer 4: Woods Michele, World Intellectual Property Organisation
Organizer 5: LANTERI Paolo, World Intellectual Property Organization
Organizer 6:  HALGAND Virag, World Intellectual Property Organization
Organizer 7: FRELEK Ryszard, World Intellectual Property Organization

Speaker 1: Edyta Demby-Siwek, Government, Eastern European Group 
Speaker 2: 
Andreea Medvedovici-Per, Private Sector, Eastern European Group
Speaker 3: Anna Piechówka, Private Sector, Eastern European Group 
Speaker 4: Andres Guadamuz , Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 5: Dimiter Gantchev, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

Additional Speakers

Deborah Papiernik, SVP New Business & Strategic Alliances, Ubisoft, Paris
Masha Stolbova, Head of Legal, Natus Vincere, Kyiv
Olivier Piasentin, Founder, Ikimasho, Paris

Moderator

Anna Dachowska, Government, Eastern European Group
Rafael Ferraz Vazquez, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

Online Moderator

Victor Owade, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

Rapporteur

Rafael Ferraz Vazquez, Intergovernmental Organization, Intergovernmental Organization

Format

Debate - Auditorium - 90 Min

Policy Question(s)

Regulation, competition and innovation: How could regulatory and self-regulatory frameworks help foster more competitive Internet-related markets, a larger diversity of business models, and more innovation? How to enable equitable access to data, marketplaces or infrastructures for fostering competition and innovation on the Internet?

This session will focus on one of the most dynamic creative sectors in the digital environment i.e. videogames. The videogames industry is a key driver for innovation. This event will showcase different experiences in terms of how videogames are increasingly being leveraged as intangible assets for the future growth. It will also consider legal framework, including intellectual property rights, which provide an enabling environment that fosters innovation and creativity.

SDGs

9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Targets: SDG 9 The proposal's focus on the video game industry as a key driver for innovation and technological growth for economies in transition links directly to SDG target 9.b based on the fact that the video game industry is the fastest growing content sector globally. In this regard, the proposal will showcase different national and regional experiences that leverages the potential for innovation and creativity for purposes building inclusive and resilient economies in line with SDG 9's overarching ambition. SDG 17 The video game industry requires multi-stakeholder collaboration between, for example, producers, developers, manufacturers, platforms, and policy-makers, to name a few. These kinds of cross-sectoral partnerships are linked to SDG target 17.6 and 17.7 in relation to enhancing, promoting, and encouraging public-private partnerships in support of sustainable development. The proposal will consider the enabling legal frameworks which are required for developing countries and economies in transition to drive such collaborations.

Description:
Videogames and their uniting power. Everything you need to know about intellectual property and new trends. Join our session to learn how IP is used by videogame producers and developers, hardware manufacturers, and top gamers. The workshop will bring together stakeholders in the videogame industry to discuss the new technological developments and related IP issues. It will also provide insights into the resilience of the videogame industry during the pandemic, as well as highlight its contribution to the economic growth, including in developing countries. This session will focus specifically on the youth as key actors in the gaming ecosystem and will consider what youth should know and take into account in order to thrive in such a fast-moving sector. This topic is especially relevant in Poland, since it has a thriving videogame industry, with successful and celebrated global companies which will also share their experiences

Program of the workshop: https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=68229

Expected Outcomes

To inform younger audiences and all interested parties about key issues, new trends and challenges in the videogame industry; To send a clear message about the importance of innovation and creativity in gaming; To show the contribution of the videogame industry to national economic development; To highlight some of the freely available tools and introduce new freely available publications; To build a network for follow-up events across the world. A video will be presented during the session and made available after the IGF.

The program will have an interactive and modern format. It is foreseen that the event would begin with a video produced for this occasion showcasing the importance of IP in videogames. The video will also be later published on the webpages of all co-organizers. Following the video, representatives of all relevant stakeholders: industry, gamers, young and old, big and small, will discuss how the current IP framework help them to be innovative and creative. They will also discuss challenges and possible improvements that can further unite all interests. At the same time, it will be an opportunity for the speakers to present what is needed to create a game, what to start with, etc. Participants onsite, as well as online, will be invited to ask questions throughout the event, which will be presented by the moderators. An interactive game with questions will also be made available to the participants. The questions will be related to the history/fandom of videogames and the role played by intellectual property.

Online Participation
  • Usage of IGF Official Tool
  • Mentimiter tool - menti.com
Session Time
Wednesday, 8th December, 2021 (11:00 UTC) - Wednesday, 8th December, 2021 (12:30 UTC)
Key Takeaways (* deadline 2 hours after session)

1. The different areas of intellectual property are fundamental by the most varied stakeholders in the video game industry and is considered a key element of different business models that coexist in the video gaming industry. New technologies incorporated in video games are also likely to be object of further analysis from the perspective of intellectual property. Examples include non-fungible tokens, metaverse and user-generated content.

2. Video games are likely to continue incorporating cutting-edge technologies towards more engagement from users. The engagement of the audiences is also a result of the expansion to other areas beyond video games such as audiovisual, location-based entertainment, books, heritage initiatives and many other areas that were possible through licensing and crossover initiatives.

Call to Action (* deadline 2 hours after session)

1. Governments to pay further attention to the video game industry, its importance and possible positive impacts derived from the innovative sector.

2. Expand the discussion about intellectual property in the video game industry.

Session Report (* deadline 26 October) - click on the ? symbol for instructions

The session started with a video prepared by the WIPO on the different aspects of intellectual property in video games.  The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os1s1moUIGE

The video game industry has continued to grow and expand even during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that it will likely continue expanding both in number of users and economic importance. With this continued growth, new opportunities will continue to emerge in this dynamic market, in particular related to the increased public’s engagement in video games.  

The new opportunities in the video game industry are also linked to the development and  large scale use of cutting-edge technologies into video games.  Some of the those technologies were discussed in the event such as the application of block chain and cryptocurrencies in tokenization of in-game assets and non-fungible tokens (NFT). The metaverse was also considered to be a core element in the growth of the video game industry in the near future. The use of smart-contracts could also be an important element in the future of the video game industry.

The different panelists highlighted that intellectual property is key to the different stakeholders in the market including developers, studios, publishers and also gamers. Several examples on how the protection of intellectual property allowed the further development of video games were given by leading companies such as Ubisoft and Microsoft.

It was also emphasized during the event that the industry undertook extensive work to offer consumers a better experience.  From an extensive number of licensing agreements to create best-seller games such as the Microsoft Flight Simulator, from new partnerships to expand video games to other medias such as publishing, TV show and movies as it was the case with Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed.  The protection of intellectual property and licensing agreements were pointed out as likely to play an even bigger role in this industry, from cross-licensing agreements to inter-operability issues passing by the expansion of user-generated content in video games.