The UK’s new industrial strategy, Invest 2035, represents an ambitious roadmap to drive economic growth, innovation, and creativity. For the UK video games industry—a £6 billion GVA powerhouse supporting over 76,000 jobs across the country—this is a pivotal moment. With targeted support, we can cement our position as a global leader, ensuring that the value created here stays here.
Here’s why the strategy for the games industry.
Backing Creativity with Investment
The UK video games industry has long been a global success story, but maintaining this requires bold investment in homegrown innovation.
- The industry thrives on creativity and technological innovation, yet 98% of games businesses are SMEs, often facing barriers to scaling due to limited access to finance.
- While schemes like the UK Games Fund offer vital support, the grants of £25,000–£30,000 are insufficient for today’s development costs. Increasing these funds and expanding the new content fund with grants of £150,000 or more would have a transformative effect, especially on start-ups and new intellectual property (IP).
Guess what? every £1 invested in the UK Games Fund generates £5.40, creating jobs, boosting productivity, and fuelling long-term growth.
Making the Video Games Expenditure Credit Competitive Again
Tax reliefs are a cornerstone of the UK’s creative industries, but for the games sector, the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) risks losing its competitive edge.
- Countries like Canada, Ireland, and France are offering more generous reliefs, drawing studios away from the UK. Meanwhile, rising labour costs and inflation have made VGEC less impactful.
- Revising VGEC to account for live service games and ongoing development costs will reflect how the industry operates today. Additionally, expanding eligibility for co-development projects with international partners could unlock untapped potential.
· Increasing VGEC’s effective rate would drive job creation and solidify the UK’s position as Europe’s leading hub for game development.
Empowering Talent
At the heart of our industry’s success lies a highly skilled workforce. Yet, skills gaps and barriers to talent are holding us back.
- A Digital Creativity GCSE, championed by Ukie, would integrate digital and creative technologies like game development, production, and design into the curriculum, building essential skills for the workforce of tomorrow.
- Visa costs remain a significant challenge, with 29% of the workforce coming from outside the UK. Reforming visa processes and reinstating key roles on the shortage occupation list would help studios attract and retain global talent.
- These measures, combined with government-backed upskilling initiatives like regional bootcamps and apprenticeship reforms, will ensure a pipeline of talent ready to meet the demands of a dynamic industry.
Fuelling Growth Through Regional Innovation
The UK games industry isn’t just a London story—it’s a national success story. From Dundee to Brighton, clusters of creativity and innovation power local economies.
- The government must support these regional hubs with investment in skills development, infrastructure, and mentoring schemes. Successful examples, like Liverpool’s Game Changer scheme, have shown how local collaboration can drive growth.
- 58% of games industry roles are located outside London, highlighting the importance of empowering clusters nationwide.
Creating the Institutions for Long-Term Growth
Despite its economic and cultural impact, the UK games industry remains underrepresented in government research and policy frameworks.
- The lack of dedicated SIC codes limits our ability to capture the industry’s true scale and contribution. Revising these codes is critical to improving data collection and policy-making.
- A UK Video Games Council could act as a central body to champion the sector, driving research into its economic, cultural, and societal impacts while shaping long-term strategy.
Building the Right Framework for Innovation
The games industry is a proven incubator for emerging technologies like AI and AR/VR, which have applications far beyond entertainment.
- A Ukie report found that games-led innovations contribute an additional £1.3 billion in economic output, with spillover benefits in healthcare, manufacturing, and defense.
- Expanding R&D tax reliefs to include creative innovations will unlock more cross-sector opportunities.
The Invest 2035 industrial strategy is a call to action. By backing bold reforms, investing in talent, and creating the right conditions for growth, we can ensure the UK video games industry remains a global leader.
At Ukie, we’re ready to work with the government to turn these ambitions into reality. To learn more about supercharged click here.