The voice of UK gamers
Our mission to improve gaming
There are roughly 8–12 million people who regularly play computer games in the UK. Perhaps you are one of them?
“Gaming is a hugely important part of how people relax, socialise and connect. Gamer’s Voice is doing valuable work to ensure that players are properly represented , and their voices are heard in decisions that affect them.” – Tom Gordon MP
Where it started
We met over 15 years ago at a games night in Leeds and became friends through a shared interest of playing together. Like millions of others, gaming wasn’t just entertainment, it was also how we connected, relaxed, and spent time chatting together as a group.
Between us our experience gaming spans decades. From early days on systems like the Commodore 64, to weekend gaming sessions in internet cafe’s playing Counter Strike, or Starcraft to console classics like Final Fantasy VII. Now much gaming is online with friendships stretch across countries and time zones.
Gaming can happen in social meetups or online through platforms like Nintendo, Xbox, Discord, or Steam where friends meet up after work, jump into games together, and stay in touch across the world. During lockdown, these spaces weren’t just a pastime, they were a lifeline for many people.
Over time, we both came to the same conclusion: gaming is too important to too many people to go unrepresented.
So we created Gamers’ Voice to ensure our interests are heard in the media, the industry, and in politics. We are a not-for-profit consumer advocacy group for gamer’s, similar in some ways to organisations such as CAMRA exist for real ale drinkers. We are structured as a company limited by guarantee, where our regular supporters get governance rights to appoint directors onto our board.
As gamers, we want the computer games industry to thrive—but we want it to thrive fairly.
We are opposed to exploitative practices designed by corporate executives to squeeze every last drop from our wallets. We know what feels unfair or what kills the fun of gaming when we encounter it.
We are in favour of a fun and inclusive gaming community where developers, publishers, gamers, content creators, and platforms thrive together. For this to happen, we need political policies and regulations that work for everyone.
So, what’s the problem?
As with any industry, there are practices that leave a bad taste in consumers’ mouths. For gamers, these unfair practices manifest in several ways. For example, they may include shutting down games prematurely; building monetisation systems at the expense of good design; placing excessive pressure on developers or restricting their creative freedom; releasing rushed, buggy games that don’t work at launch; overpromising features in marketing; limiting ownership or locking games into specific platforms; unfair bans affecting content creators; forcing players to hand over excessive personal data; in-game currency systems that feel deceptive; and aggressive attempts to copyright gameplay mechanics or target emulator and modding communities.
But it doesn’t stop there
Most people get to enjoy their pastime, and we generally respect what others choose to do. However, gamers face a unique challenge in the form of negative stereotypes—accusations that time is “wasted” playing games, or fearmongering about the supposed “harmful impacts” of gaming. This isn’t new. As far back as 1983, there was a famous parliamentary debate about the dangers of children playing Space Invaders.
The truth couldn’t be more different. Gaming is a safe and enjoyable activity that brings people together, builds connections, and offers a range of psychological and cognitive benefits.
Our positive vision for gaming
An inclusive gaming community where developers, publishers, gamers, content creators, and platforms collaborate and succeed together. We want to see positive representation of gaming as a culture, art form, and means of expression in the media. We support a thriving esports scene backed by UK local authorities, and government policies that make gaming accessible and enjoyable for everyone. We also want more social events and opportunities for people who love games to meet and share their passion.
Most of all, we want the joy of gaming to be celebrated and enjoyed by everyone.
If you share a love of games and want to work with us to build a thriving community and gaming community then get involved. We are your voice, and work in your interests!
Frequently Asked Questions
Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers.
What is Gamer’s Voice?
We are a UK based campaign that seeks to give Gamer’s a Voice in decisions that impact them. We aim to build a better gaming community for everyone.
‘So like what the Football Fans Association is for football?’ Yes that right, or what CAMRA is for people who love beer and cider, but for gaming.
I’m a dev, work in Esports, or a content creator, do you represent me too?
If you love games and your work involves games then we seek to help give you a voice too! People who make games, or who are professional gamers, streamers, or content creators also have issues that impact them, and can help be part of a community campaigning on those issues too.
Our role a the UK chapter of Stop Killing Games
Stop Killing Games is a decentralized global initiative demanding legal consumer protections against the intentional destruction of video games. We form the UK Chapter of this global initiative working to further the causes of this campaign.
Who funds you?
Currently all of our income comes form our supporters. These are gamers, content creators, or people who create games who give a small donation as they love games and want to make gaming better.
Why should I become a supporter?
Our supporters get to elect our supporter directors to the board that helps to run Gamer’s Voice. By supporting us you are becoming part of a community of gamers working towards a shared vision to improve gaming for everyone.
Can my company become a corporate supporter?
We are happy to accept support from organisations that support our aims and objectives to make gaming better. Get in touch with us if you want to discuss how you can work with us. We do reserve the right to refuse support from companies or organsiations that we don’t think our acting in the interests of the wider gaming community.
Do I get any material benefits from being a supporter?
You get a nice warm fuzzy glow. But as we are not a commercial organisation, it’s not like having a subscription to a product or service. We don’t offer any material benefits such as free merch, products, discounts or exclusive event access to our supporters.
Do you make any money from this?
Currently everyone working on Gamer’s Voice is doing so as a volunteer. If there is support in time we would like to be able to have more time to work on this project, create a staff team and become a professional organisation working in gamer’s interest.
‘Gamer’ is cringe, I play games but i’m not a ‘gamer’ why did you pick that name?
Ok hear us out. When we see a t-shirt in Tesco about being a gamer it makes us want to vomit a bit too. However how do we describe people who play games, and a campaign about games. We could have had some long acronym maybe? I guess it worked for CAMRA in the end. We thought about ‘players’ but In the UK context that’s often associated with the gambling lobby so wanted to avoid that.
We think part of the reason ‘gamer’ is cringe is because of negative stereotypes, and image problems. We want to change and improve that. Also if you play games you are technically a gamer so it just made sense at that level. Call us GV ‘Gee-Vee’ if you like. But feel free to roast us all the same 🙂 We are just some people wanting to make things better not marketing big brains.