Information Technology
WEATHERING THE STORM: TIGA RESEARCH REVEALS UK GAMES DEV SECTOR CONTINUES TO GROW, DESPITE GLOBAL SECTOR DOWNTURN
Despite the global games industry downturn, the UK games development sector grew 4.8 per cent in the12 months to May 2024 , according to new research published today by TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry.
Against a backdrop of companies downsizing and studio closures, the UK's games development sector proved to be comparatively resilient, growing to 25,419* full time equivalent development roles by May 2024 , which, at 4.8 per cent, was the lowest annualised rate of growth in the UK games industry since 2012.
The UK's fastest growing games clusters in the 12 months to May 2024 were London (468 new staff), North East (280 staff)and North West (247 staff), but 5 regions contracted.
The findings come from TIGA's definitive report on the state of the UK video games industry (TIGA, 2024), which is based on an extensive survey of UK games businesses, with analysis by Games Investor Consulting.
Meanwhile, the TIGA report has highlighted that the UK's fastest growing games clusters were London (468 new staff), North East (280 staff)and North West (247 staff).
London extended its lead as the largest cluster to 5,931 full time and full time equivalent staff in 584 companies. Five clusters (East of England , South East, East Midlands , Scotland and Northern Ireland ) lost headcount between April 2023 and May 2024 , the East Midlands for the second consecutive year. All areas saw reduced start-up activity, but London (81), South East (48) and the South West (22) added the most start-ups.
* FT roles above plus a pro-rated % of all the freelancers we recorded in the survey.
** 100% full time roles recorded by companies in our survey.
The findings in this press release come from TIGA's definitive report on the state of the UK video games industry Making Games in the UK 2024 (TIGA, 2024) which is based on an extensive survey of UK games businesses, with analysis by Games Investor Consulting.
Games Investor Consulting in conjunction with TIGA and its partners conducted surveys concluding in July 2008 , September 2010 , November 2011 , December 2012 , December 2013 , December 2014 , March 2016 , November 2017 , November 2018 , April 2020 , December 2021 , April 2023 and May 2024 of all known games companies involved in the creation of games (including developers, publishers, publisher studios, service companies and broadcasters with games divisions) in the UK. Assessments of every database entry are made on a company-by-company basis with strict vetting and verification rules to ensure each entry is discrete (to prevent duplication via subsidiary or parent companies) and confirmed to be active in games development. The survey counts staff working in development and development support roles in games studios, games publishers and development service companies. A broad array of additional data is also captured including studio location, primary platform focus and company ownership structure as well as company start-ups and exits/closures.
Games development is defined as including all production staff, QA, support, localisation and technical staff but excludes admin, finance, sales, marketing and commercial staff not directly involved with games production. Full-time equivalent staff comprise multiple part-time staff aggregated based on typical usage throughout a year to represent a single full-time employee.
TIGA is the trade association for the UK video games industry. Since 2010, TIGA has won 28 business awards and commendations. Our vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to develop video games. Our core purpose is to strengthen the games development and digital publishing sector. We achieve this by:
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