Greater Baton Rouge Business Report: Let the games begin

Nowadays when state officials talk about economic development and gaming, they might not mean slots, cards and dice.

A Texas videogaming firm is partnering with officials in Louisiana to foster growth of a homegrown industry. Ninjaneering LLC of Austin will host a weeklong GameCamp at University of Louisiana at Lafayette for teens who might want to work in the videogaming one day. The firm also is collaborating with ULL officials from computer science, cinema arts, business, music and other disciplines to develop a curriculum to serve would-be gamemakers.

"We'd love a chance to develop game projects here," says Joe Castille, senior advisor for Nijaneering in Louisiana.

The camp, which begins in late July, is drawing teens from around the state, including Baton Rouge, he says.

Castille is also developing the Louisiana Initiative for Games and High Technology, a consortium of academic and private groups from around the state that wants to build on the state's push to create high-tech jobs in the videogaming industry. Louisiana lawmakers last month passed tax breaks aimed specifically at gaming firms.

The initiative will focus on building the education and infrastructure to support commercial projects, Castille says.

"When the local industry starts turning out kids with degrees, there will be a place for them to work in the state, and that's critical," he says. "The point is to grow an indigenous industry."

Castille's efforts jibe with developments at the Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge, which pushed for the gaming tax breaks and commissioned a study on the potential value of the industry to the state's economy. Officials in New Orleans say they are also pushing to recruit a firm from Austin, a gaming hub, to Baton Rouge, New Orleans or both cities.