South East Now the Largest Centre of Games Development in the UK

LONDON, September 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

TIGA, the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry, has published new data showing that the South East of England is now the largest centre of games development. In the year ending March 2016, the South East employed 2,574 development staff compared to London's 2,418. ^[1] London, though, was home to more games companies (222).

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160916/408869 )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/390106 )

Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO, said:

"The South East has surpassed London as the largest centre of games development in the UK. The South East benefits from a number of important games clusters, including Oxford, Brighton and Portsmouth. Excellent universities provide these clusters with first rate graduates. The region also boasts some iconic and innovative games studios including Climax, Natural Motion, nDreams, Rebellion and Supermassive, to name but a few.

"London remains a games development powerhouse. The capital is home to 222 games companies, including King, Sony and Space Ape Games and has good access to highly skilled developers from terrific universities and a number of finance providers.

"Although London and the South account for almost 40 per cent of employment in the games development industry, the sector differs from other UK media sectors in being spread very widely across the UK: the third and fourth largest centres of games development by headcount are the North West of England and Scotland, respectively. Many of the games clusters in the different regions of the UK are home to innovative studios and are supported by good universities. Policy makers should take further steps to improve access to finance, encourage the uptake of Games Tax Relief and R&D Tax Credits, enhance access to high skilled developeres and strengthen industry-university links in order to nurture and promote local, regional and national games centres."

Notes to editors 

Research methodology 

Games Investor Consulting (GIC) continuously maintains a database of all extant, closed and exiting British games companies. Between January-March 2016, TIGA and GIC conducted an email and telephone survey of British games companies involved in the development of games including studios, publishers, service companies and broadcasters with games divisions. Distribution, manufacturing, peripheral device, marketing and retail companies were not profiled. Companies were asked how many staff worked full time in development. HR, admin, sales, marketing and commercial staff were excluded. 534 companies responded or publish up to date data on headcount, representing 70% of the UK's total headcount. Estimates for the remaining companies were established by desk research from a variety of other public data and GIC sources. GIC takes the latest data on development headcount to scale total development expenditure, and then uses Oxford Economics' calculations from their report, "The economic contribution of the UK Games Development industry", to establish estimates of the development industry's GDP and tax impact.

About TIGA 

TIGA is the network for games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry. Since 2010, TIGA has won 24 business awards and commendations and has been successfully accredited as an Investors in People organisation three times. TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

• Political representation
• Media representation
• Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members' voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video games trade media.

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1. Regional headcount includes full time and full time equivalent staff.

Get in touch:

Tel: +44-(0)845-468-2330
Email: info@tiga.org 
Web: http://www.tiga.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tigamovement
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TIGAMovement
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/tiga  

For further information, you can also contact:  Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO by email: richard.wilson@tiga.org