ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on institutions and organisations at a range of spatial levels that influence game production practices and services. A number of spatial levels become pertinent – the nation state, but also the region, the city, and transnational or translocal organisations and communities. Cities are relevant to understanding the location of production as they attempt to exploit local factors to become hubs for high technology games conferences and game incubators. The role of regional and national institutions in shaping local game production activities has been evolving in the context of globalisation and the aftermath of the North American, Japanese and European fiscal and sovereign debt crises. The key challenges for game development companies are access to finance and access to skilled labour. During the last decade of globalisation, new transnational institutions and new legislative programmes have emerged which are attempting to place a legal and regulatory framework around games at national and regional levels.
