Helping companies find new ways to use games to innovate products and services that improve the human experience.
REACTOR was a regional development project led by Anglia Ruskin University and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
The project aimed to support small, medium enterprises in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough regions to grow their business through the use of applied games. This was done by providing support through a series of events to introduce the concept of gamification and understand how it can be used to provide a deeper connection with users, change behaviours and improve engagement with digital products. The events introduced the SMEs to expertise through our unique network of businesses, games developers and designers and gave an opportunity to sound out ideas with peers and experts.
Armed with this knowledge eligible SMEs were able to apply for match funded grants to help them develop a new gamified product or service. Eligible SMEs could also use the REACTOR Incubator to access gaming software and high spec technology to build their innovative gamified products.
A total of £1 million was committed to help new and existing businesses across all sectors to use games technologies and user-based design in innovative products and services – creating gamified products and, ultimately, a new applied games sector in the region.
Find out about some of the SMEs that took part in the REACTOR project.
Download our Project Overview Document to find out more about REACTOR and how it has helped local businesses innovate using gamification.
Anglia Ruskin already plays a vital role in the games ecosystem in Cambridge. Along with industry partners, we run Brains Eden, the largest student games festival in Europe, bringing talented students to Cambridge for an annual games jam.
We have academic expertise and research knowledge in gaming but, importantly for REACTOR, also in healthcare and therapy, construction and housing, policing and crime, sports, culture and heritage, international law and business.
As The Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2014, we work with more than 2,000 businesses a year, and we're recognised for our contribution to regional and national economic growth.
Located in the heart of Cambridge's tech cluster, REACTOR was well-placed to help businesses connect to the best talent, academic experts, and specialist equipment and funding in order to produce new, innovative products.