David 
10/04/2014
FLEGA is currently compiling a report on the Flemish videogames industry. We’re gathering soft and hard facts to be able to better map the gaming activity in our region. The report will be made available in June, but for the meantime we will already be sharing some interesting facts and figures in a series of blog posts.
Our previous two blogs have already taught us that games and gamers are not a hype and that gaming is gaining more ground each day in our region and effectively worldwide. If anything, we can safely assume that we will be seeing a lot more games and studies about their effects in the near future.
The main reason why we believe that games are on the verge of a worldwide breakthrough is that the stereotypes and prejudice of games being violent, useless and bad for your brain are finally being torn down. More and more universities offer students high quality education to study for a future job in the games business. Not only that, schools are continuingly experimenting with the application of games during class.
The use of games stimulates the gamer’s mind, making it easier to comprehend the matter which would otherwise be given during a tedious lecture. Studies have even shown that the when students are given educational information through games, they are able to place and replicate it more easily.
This recent interest in serious games is applied in all sorts of social fields nowadays, not only education, but spanning from psychology and healthcare to military and human resources. More and more people are convinced that games can also serve a purpose beyond mere entertainment.
And let’s not forget gamification: effectively using proven game techniques in a non-gaming environment to resolve problems or to change consumer behavior.
