THE arrival and growth of the computer gaming industry in Liverpool comes under the category of job creation by stealth.

If a business announced that it was to create 1,500 new jobs in the city all in one go, the news would be shouted from the rooftops. Spin doctors would go into overdrive and the message would be trumpeted to the world.

But the computer gamers have just got on with it, keeping their heads down to the extent that a big player like Sony, with its European Entertainment Development Centre in Wavertree, does not even have its name over the door.

In an age of hype, there is something refreshing about this lower than low key way of doing business. But it is also possible to have too much of a good thing.

With voices from within the City Council calling for £5m to set up a National Games Academy in Liverpool, it is time the Sonys of this world stood up and were counted.

If the Academy plan comes to fruition, it will capitalise on Liverpool’s status as one of the most significant games clusters in the UK.

It will create a centre of excellence in training the games programmers of the future, and also the all-important courses in business management, intellectual property rights and the like.

With links to the planned Media City in Salford, soon to be home to large chunks of the BBC, the scope is there for continued growth of computer game creation and its allied skills in Liverpool.

The council appears willing to show the way in getting the project off the ground. Everyone else, from the universities to central government and, most importantly, the companies involved, should follow suit.