Growth in the Scottish Video Games Industry Grinds to a Halt, According to TIGA

LONDON, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- TIGA, the network for video games developers and digital publishers and the trade association representing the video games industry, today released new data showing that growth in the Scottish video games development industry ground to a halt in the year ending November 2018. This compares to a growth rate of 8.1 per cent in the UK games industry in the same period. Scotland is now the fourth largest games cluster in the UK (after London, the South East and the North West), down from third place in November 2017.

TIGA's research shows that:

• Scotland^[1] has 1,537 permanent and full-time equivalent creative staff working on games development^[2] in 84 companies. This is down marginally from 1,540 staff in 91 companies in 2017, following the closure of several Scottish studios.
• Scotland is home to 7.9 per cent of the UK's total games companies and 10.7 per cent of its developer headcount (the comparable figures for 2017 were 8.9 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively).
• Scotland's games development sector supports an additional 2,810 indirect jobs.
• Annually, Scottish games development companies are estimated to invest £88 million in salaries and overheads, contribute £80 million in direct and indirect tax revenues to HM Treasury, and make a direct and indirect contribution of £194 million to the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said:

"Growth in the Scottish video games industry ground to a halt in 2018, after growing dramatically in the previous year. The halt in headcount growth is due to the closure of a number of studios including Guerrilla Tea, Dynamo Games, Tiger Games, Hidden Armada, A Fox Wot I Drew and Serious Parody and the failure to compensate for this growth from surviving studios. Scotland's average studio size has historically been larger than that for the UK as a whole which is also partly why the loss of so many studios in a single year has had such a disproportionate impact.

"However, Scotland remains the fourth largest games cluster in the UK. Scotland has a range of experienced studios working in games for mobile, online, educational and console markets and has first class universities educating excellent graduates for the games industry, including TIGA Accredited Abertay University.

"Scotland's games industry also benefits from the support of agencies including Scottish Enterprise and Creative Scotland. The Scottish Government is also developing a Scottish National Investment Bank which may be able to support the sector in the future.