The former prime minister spoke at the event organized by the 5 Star Movement together with the Italian Esports Observatory. At the center of the debate is the discussion with content creators and operators for legislation that recognizes the professionalism of workers in the sector
Decisively support the development of the gaming sector, recognize its professional figures with legislation that protects their work, combat contractual imbalances between platforms and content creators, refinance funds for digital entertainment and give impetus to a sector that can represent a they drive the national economy. These are the programmatic lines traced by the president of the 5 Star Movement Giuseppe Conte during the event "Gaming Milano 2024 – My work is not a game”, organized in Cologno Monzese by M5S together with the Italian Esports Observatory.
The event represented an accelerator of ideas on the future of gaming in Italy, uniting in a participatory format the sensitivities of sector stakeholders, content creators and political exponents of the 5 Star Movement, who are working in Parliament for legislation on Esports.
During the event Giuseppe Conte underlined an important positioning of the party on gaming issues: "The 5 Star Movement was the first party to understand the growth of the sector and to implement concrete actions to set guidelines to support the development of all the components of this market" .
The former prime minister in fact recalled the path taken by the M5S deputies Antonio Caso and Valentina Barzotti they started a year ago together at the Italian Esports Observatory (OIES) to arrive at legislation for Esports to be presented to Parliament. After the presentation to the Chamber of Deputies of the first White Paper on the sector drawn up by OIES together with over 70 operators, was presented to the Chamber by them Caso and Barzotti the first historic resolution on the regulation of the sector, the absence of which is preventing companies in the sector from operating competitively compared to international operators.
In fact, Conte recalled that “Italy has nothing to envy in terms of creativity compared to other countries. It is simply a matter of accompanying this development and offering the regulatory interventions useful to direct it in the right direction of development."
The deputies confirmed this position Caso and Barzotti, who underlined that a discipline that can finally recognize the work of the many professional figures who contribute to the development of the market, but who currently cannot access defined contractual schemes, tax protection and rules on Esports competitions, can no longer be postponed .
Also Luigi Caputo, president of the Italian Esports Observatory, underlined how today gaming is "an extraordinary communication and entertainment tool, capable of connecting people and leading them to a new sociality". In fact, the Observatory has shown data on the diffusion of Esports in Italy, which indicates a affected population of over 6 million people, which involves all generations and which in the world the gaming market is worth over 300 billion dollars. Caputo added that "Italy is full of entities with potential in Esports and gaming, but that a commitment from the institutions is needed so that our country can also emerge in this sector".
One of the main themes of "Milano Gaming 2024 - My future is not a game" was in fact the push for a new narrative on gaming, which enhances its opportunities in social and economic terms.
This was witnessed by the various content creators and gamers who attended, who were able to share the experiences of those who transformed their passion for video games into a job. Prominent personalities from the Italian scene were involved in the panels dedicated to creators, pro-players and independent video game developers, such as Letizia Muttoni, Fortuna Imperatore Niccolò Mirra, Diego Campagnani, Mattia Guainazzi and Wesley Caicedo, which have highlighted the difficulties of operating in a sector not recognized at a regulatory level, with the consequent lack of economic opportunities that push many talents to move outside Italy.
As recalled by Conte, "politics must establish those important limits so that everyone can be involved in this context with wage protection, national collective agreements, clear distribution of rights and duties".
