The pre-study identifies research initiatives that could be beneficial for the region's efforts to develop the ecology of the game industry in Värmland. Game development tools are powerful and are being used in an increasing number of industries for visualization. Creation with game tools, where the start is visual and narrative design, is a path to technical competence and could contribute to a more even gender distribution in the industry and among IT students. The goal of the pre-study is to identify how different education providers and not least different subjects at Karlstad University can be involved in the construction of education and research that strengthens the region's competence and competitiveness in game development (and related areas such as interactive visualization and e-service development). Special consideration is taken to involve the research and artistic expertise that exists in the region's universities as this has not significantly contributed to the game development ecology in the past.