The UK games development sector has shown growth over the past year, despite challenges such as company downsizing and studio closures, according to new research by TIGA, the trade association for the UK video games industry.
In the 12 months leading to May 2024, the UK’s games development sector grew by 4.8%, reaching 25,419 full-time equivalent development roles. This marked the sector’s lowest annual growth rate since 2012. Despite a global downturn in the games industry, the UK sector demonstrated resilience, expanding even as companies downsized and studios closed.
The fastest-growing games clusters were in London, the North East, and the North West. However, five regions experienced a decline in the number of employees in their games sectors.
TIGA’s report, Making Games in the UK 2024, which is based on a comprehensive survey of UK games businesses, reveals the following key findings for the period from April 2023 to May 2024:
- Over 28,500 people are now working in the UK games development sector, including a notable increase in the number of freelancers, which grew from 1,102 to 3,625.
- The total number of games development companies in the UK declined slightly from 2,175 to 2,148, with 248 companies exiting the industry. This marks the highest company closure rate on record, with 10.4% of companies leaving the sector during the survey period.
- Despite downsizing and closures, job growth outweighed losses, with 678 companies adding 3,932 full-time development jobs.
- The UK is home to the largest games development workforce in Europe, with 62% of the workforce now employed by overseas-owned studios.
- While the number of start-up studios declined, larger and console-focused studios showed the most growth. Studios with 41 to 149 staff saw an average growth rate of 19%, while console studios grew by 18.1%.
TIGA’s CEO, Dr. Richard Wilson OBE, commented, “The UK games development sector has continued to grow in tough economic conditions. This is a remarkable achievement, and we have the strengths to continue driving the sector forward. We need more support for start-ups and better access to investment to sustain growth. The Government’s continued support for the Video Games Expenditure Credit will help foster a strong environment for growth and innovation.”
The report also highlighted that London remains the largest and fastest-growing cluster, with 468 new staff joining, followed by the North East and North West. However, several regions saw a decrease in staff numbers, with start-up activity across all areas declining.
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said:
“While London remains the biggest and fastest growing games cluster in the UK, almost 80% of all games development is carried out outside of the Capital. In addition, there has been impressive growth in the North East and North West between April 2023 and May 2024.
“At the same time, although London saw the greatest number of new start-ups, we also witnessed strong entrepreneurial activity in the South East.”
Jason Kingsley CBE, TIGA Chairman and CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion, offered:
“TIGA’s report is reflective of what is currently a challenging environment for some parts of the games industry. However, it also highlights that UK games development is faring better than certain areas of the global games industry. We need the Government to continue to improve the environment for games development in the UK so that our industry in turn can contribute to economic growth across the country.”