British computer games developers should set up an academy to encourage the next generation of game developers said creative industries minister Shaun Woodward .

In an interview with the Financial Times, Woodward said that such an academy would not just target 'geeks' but would reach out to those alienated by academic environments.

He added that the games industry had come through its 'rebel period' and come to accept that it was now a huge industry in its own right. "

"You see television and film schools but we don't have a video-games school. Why not? And yet we're the third largest games manufacturer in the world."

Woodward said the best way for the industry to attract the necessary talent and skills it needs to move forward is to approach the Government and offer to put forward the funding for an academy.