C4 unveils £5m gaming push aimed at 10 to 19 year olds

Channel 4 is to plough around £5m into a raft of games and apps that will encourage youngsters to consider finance, ethics, attraction and death. The 10 multiplatform projects have been commissioned by Channel 4 Education.
The services span a range of platforms, including console gaming, online games and mobile apps as C4 Education bids to reach youngsters in all digital places they consume content. 

As part of the range of commissions, C4 has earmarked three specifically for 10-to 14-year-olds following its extended remit to cater for this target demographic.   The orders follow C4’s decision to ring-fence its 2010 investment in education of £4m, along with an additional £1m injection specifically for 10-14s for 2011.
Alice Taylor, C4 commissioning editor for education, said the aim was to provide engaging content for the target demographic of 10-19s. “Covering a fantastic range of formats and platforms, the projects are varied and fun whilst still tackling useful and important subject matters,” said Taylor. “As usual we aim to represent teens – and now tweens – in their best light, and to continue to find new talent and recruit UK independents in the drive to provide public service content of the very highest quality.”
Speaking about Channel 4 Education's general remit, Taylor said it is "committed to the public service remit of reaching teenagers and young people with content relevant to their tastes and as such the budget is ring fenced". Taylor defended the public service remit of her department and its shift away from traditional term-time morning slots, which reached 70,000-80,000 viewers, to more experimental games and projects on the web and on mobile. The annual education budget of £4m for 14- to 19-year-olds is to be supplemented with £1m for 10- to 14-year-olds as a result of the government's Digital Economy Act earlier this year.
She said the department was "not only allowed to but expected to fail in some areas". "That's the merit, the point of public service to try something not that's not commercially proven or that doesn't exist yet," added Taylor.
"Luckily we're having a lot of success with our stuff but without public service you would only do what is commercially viable. We want experimentation, diversity innovation and something for the public benefit, to make products that are about helping somebody or making them feel better."
Taylor said that in the two years since Channel 4 changed its education strategy there is "no doubt" that it reaches a more suitable audience, but added that reaching that audience online presents different problems. "It's a challenge to get things noticed – publishing things on the internet is like chucking them into the sea, rather than a river."