A national gaming institute and a national strategy for video games

The plan wants cultural policy to create good economic conditions for new cultural forms too and for policy to keep arm's length from content — which a gaming institute held independent from politics responds to. The plan also wants to see large joint initiatives for technology development and support for independent developers rather than dominant actors. The requirement for strengthened legal protection against unregulated actors and gaming addiction aligns with the plan's restrictive view of addictive activities.

• support for new cultural formsdecisive»institutioner som den fria kulturen, för såväl traditionella som nya« (party programme ↗)“institutions for free culture, for both traditional and new”
• arm's length distance»Politiken ska skapa förutsättningar för en bred kultur som kommer alla till del och hålla armlängds avstånd till innehållet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Policy must create conditions for a broad culture that benefits everyone and keep arm's length from content.”
• joint technology investments»Vi vill se stora gemensamma satsningar på den teknikutveckling« (party programme ↗)“We want to see large joint initiatives in the technology development”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants to invest in digitalization and education to strengthen the business climate and competence supply, and it guards a living cultural life where policy does not govern artistic content. A national video game strategy and an independent game institute are in line with this, as is the requirement that money laundering be stopped. The video game industry is not addressed in the plan, so the support is derived.

• investment in digitalizationdecisive»Vi vill satsa på grön teknik, digitalisering och utbildning så att företagsklimatet stärks och kompetensförsörjningen förbättras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to invest in green technology, digitalization and education so that the business climate is strengthened and competence supply is improved.”
• living and unbound cultural life»Sverige ska ha ett levande, fritt och obundet kulturliv som både stärker samhörigheten och utmanar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall have a living, free and unbound cultural life that both strengthens togetherness and challenges.”
• arm's length distance»Kulturpolitikens uppgift är inte att styra konsten.« (party programme ↗)“Cultural policy's task is not to govern art.”
• stop money laundering»Skattefusk, välfärdsbrottslighet och penningtvätt ska stoppas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Tax evasion, welfare crime and money laundering must be stopped.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan does not address the video game industry, but wants digital technology to be used in the best way to spread culture, views positively on open source as a way to stimulate creativity and entrepreneurship and wants to strengthen opportunities for people with good ideas to run businesses. The election manifesto wants to improve cultural creators' conditions. A national strategy and an independent council that supports developers lies closest to these principles, but the basis is weak.

• digital technology spreads culturedecisive»användas på bästa sätt för att sprida kultur.« (party programme ↗)“be used in the best way to spread culture.”
• open source stimulates creation»källkod och öppen hårdvara som ett sätt att« (party programme ↗)“source code and open hardware as a way to”
• support for new businesses»Vi vill stärka möjligheterna för människor med« (party programme ↗)“We want to strengthen opportunities for people with”
• cultural creators' conditions»förbättra kulturskaparnas ekonomiska och sociala villkor och modernisera upphovsrätten så att kulturskaparnas rättigheter värnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“improve cultural creators' economic and social conditions and modernize copyright so that cultural creators' rights are protected.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan says nothing about digital games or e-sports. Nearest lying principle is that policy shall contribute to good conditions for culture and creative industries but maintain arm's length distance, and that new markets for Swedish goods and services shall be opened. A game institute kept independent from politics and a strategy for industry conditions aligns with that principle, but the evidence is weak.

• arm's length distancedecisive»Den akademiska och konstnärliga friheten liksom den fria kulturen är grundbultar i ett vitalt civilsamhälle. Politiken ska bidra till goda förutsättningar men hålla armlängds avstånd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Academic and artistic freedom as well as free culture are cornerstones in a vital civil society. Policy shall contribute to good conditions but maintain arm's length distance.”
• open new markets»Sverige behöver också ett politiskt ledarskap som ser resten av världen som en möjlighet, inte som ett hot — som öppnar upp nya marknader för svenska varor och tjänster och gör det möjligt att rekrytera medarbetare från andra länder.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden also needs political leadership that sees the rest of the world as an opportunity, not as a threat — that opens up new markets for Swedish goods and services and makes it possible to recruit staff from other countries.”
• policy not a taste judge»Skaparglädje frodas i frihet. Politiken ska akta sig för att agera smakdomare och diktera kulturens innehåll.« (party programme ↗)“Creative joy flourishes in freedom. Policy shall be careful not to act as a taste judge and dictate culture's content.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's line on culture is that the state shall govern less, that cultural creators and not politicians shall make support decisions and that more cultural institutions be made independent from the state. A national strategy for video games and a state game institute moves in the opposite direction, even though the proposal wants to keep the council independent of politics. That the plan wants to appoint a start-up commission for growing sectors points partly towards the counter-proposal, hence the basis is weak.

• the state shall govern lessdecisive»Därför vill vi att staten ska styra mindre och att det ska vara kulturskapare och inte politiker som fattar besluten om stöd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore we want the state to govern less and for it to be cultural creators and not politicians who make support decisions.”
• independent institutions»Mångfalden i kulturlivet ska öka genom att fler kulturinstitutioner görs självständiga från staten.« (party programme ↗)“Diversity in cultural life shall increase by making more cultural institutions independent from the state.”
• cultural policy without governance»är inte att styra kulturen, utan att förbättra förutsättningarna för det konstnärliga skapandet och« (party programme ↗)“is not to govern culture, but to improve the conditions for artistic creativity and”
• commission for growing sectors»En startup-kommission ska tillsättas och skattesystemet anpassas bättre till den växande delningsekonomin.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A start-up commission shall be appointed and the tax system better adapted to the growing sharing economy.”

The party programme establishes that economic policy shall be conducted with general means and that direct business subsidies are rejected. A national video game strategy with a public gaming institute is a targeted industry push of the very kind the plan distances itself from, and the plan moreover wants public support in leisure to prioritize voluntary organizations over commercial interests. The counter-proposal's demands thus lie outside the plan's line.

• general means in economic policydecisive»Näringspolitiken ska bedrivas med generella medel,« (party programme ↗)“Economic policy shall be conducted with general means,”
• no direct subsidies»Direkta företagssubventioner avvisas.« (party programme ↗)“Direct business subsidies are rejected.”
• voluntary before commercial»Ideell verksamhet ska prioriteras framför kommersiella intressen vid utformningen av statens och kommunernas fritidspolitik.« (party programme ↗)“Voluntary organizations shall be prioritized over commercial interests in the design of state and municipal leisure policy.”

The plan does not address the video game industry. The nearest principle is the party programme's warning that public financing and political ambitions in cultural and media policy constitute a risk, and that the goal should be institutions that stand free from state and politics. Establishing a state gaming institute and a national gaming strategy therefore falls outside the plan's line, which instead relies on a dynamic business sector.

• risk with state cultural controldecisive»offentlig finansiering och politiska ambitioner utgör en risk.« (party programme ↗)“public financing and political ambitions constitute a risk.”
• institutions free from politics»Målet ska vara självständiga institutioner som i sin verksamhet står fria från stat och politik.« (party programme ↗)“The goal shall be independent institutions that in their operations stand free from state and politics.”
• business drives development»Sveriges välstånd bygger på ett dynamiskt och livskraftigt näringsliv.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden's prosperity is built on a dynamic and vigorous business sector.”

The plan states that young people's computer interest is an asset in a digitalised society, that e-sport is a real sport and that e-sport's position shall be improved. An independent council also aligns with the requirement that independent cultural institutions shall be protected from political interference. The counter-proposal's strategy and games institute are therefore supported, with the plan's restraint against new public bodies as a counterweight.

• strengthened position for e-sportdecisive»Förbättra e-sportens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Improve e-sport's position”
• computer games as an asset»Det stora datorintresse som återfinns bland många unga kan också utgöra en stor tillgång i vårt allt mer digitaliserade samhälle. Det är dags att inse att E-sport är en sport på riktigt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The great computer interest found among many young people can also be a great asset in our increasingly digitalised society. It is time to realise that e-sport is a real sport.”
• institutions free from politics»Samtidigt ska oberoende kulturinstitutioners frihet från politiska pekpinnar värnas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time independent cultural institutions' freedom from political interference shall be protected.”
• restraint with new bodies»Stoppa slöseriet inom myndigheterna och slå samman myndigheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop waste within government agencies and consolidate agencies”