[Industry news] TIGA report highlights ongoing skills challenges in UK games industry as studios invest in training and adaptation

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry, has today published its latest Skills, Training and Education in the Games Industry 2026 report. The findings show that while the sector benefits from a strong pipeline of skilled graduates and a largely proficient workforce, skills shortages persist, particularly in specialist and emerging roles.

Shortages have eased during the recent industry downturn (the percentage of  studios participating in our surveys reporting skills shortages has fallen from 70% to 29% across the last three). However, a lack of experienced candidates and evolving skill needs continue to present challenges for some studios.

Studios are responding through training, internal promotions and outsourcing, but further measures are required to strengthen the long-term talent pipeline.

The report is based on a survey of games companies employing over 3,000 developers, representing 11 per cent of the UK games development workforce, conducted in Q4 2025. The research was compiled by TIGA with support from the University of Portsmouth, a long-standing leader in games education and industry collaboration.

Skills shortages persist, driven by lack of qualified applicants

Among the 29% of studios experiencing skills shortages, 79 per cent identified a lack of applicants with the required skills, experience or qualifications as the primary cause. Programming roles remain the most difficult to fill, with 57 per cent of businesses reporting shortages, compared to 14 per cent in Art and 14 per cent in Design:

• Programming: 57%
• Art: 14%
• Design: 14%
• Community Management: 7 %
• Data Science: 7%

Increased pressure on existing staff

The report finds that the biggest impact of skill shortages is on existing teams, with 62 per cent of respondents indicating shortages had increased workload for current staff, while 40 per cent reported a greater need to outsource work.

However, the wider business impact appears more contained than in previous years: Only 23 per cent said skills shortages had hindered growth, while just 6 per cent reported losing business to competitors.

Industry adapts through internal development and outsourcing

Games businesses experiencing skill shortages over the last 12 months have taken a variety of measures to mitigate the challenge:

• 68 per cent have made internal promotions
• 57 per cent have outsourced work
• 51 per cent have increased training for existing staff
• 47 per cent have redefined job roles

All games businesses in our survey provided training for their employees. 33 per cent provide on-the-job training not leading to qualifications and a further 25 per cent provide formal courses not culminating in qualifications. 16 per cent of companies facilitated training leading to the acquisition of professional qualifications.

The average (mean) number of training days provided by games businesses in our survey was 13.5 days per employee. The mode number of training days was five and the median number of training days was eight.

Talent pipeline remains heavily reliant on experienced hires

The report highlights a strong reliance on experienced talent, with 82 per cent of new hires coming from existing industry practitioners, compared to 17 per cent from graduates and just 1 per cent from apprentices.

Existing staff highly competent, though skills gaps remain in leadership and management

Games businesses responding to the skills survey on average estimated that 89 per cent of their teams were fully proficient in their roles, indicating the UK games development sector has a highly competent workforce.

Of respondents identifying skill gaps amongst employees, 31 per cent referred to deficiencies in leadership and management skills (e.g. delegating, giving feedback, etc). Other respondents suggested gaps in communication skills (25 per cent) and business development skills (19 per cent).

Universities play a critical role

Higher education provides a vital part of the talent pipeline for the games industry.  Respondents to our survey were asked to identify the single most important action that they would like universities to take to enhance the quality of graduates.  Common themes articulated by developers included:

• Embed industry-led projects and real-world experience into courses
• Strengthen links with studios
• Ensure familiarity with current tools, workflows and production pipelines
• Develop both technical and soft skills, including teamwork and problem-solving

TIGA enhances education and skills through our accreditation programme, the TIGA Games Education Awards and our education conferences, which bring industry and academia together to share best practice.

TIGA’s skills survey took place during an ongoing downturn in the video games industry. Globally, over 36,000 jobs were lost in the games workforce between January 2022 and September 2025.

As of September 2025, the UK video games industry employed almost 27,350 full time equivalent development roles in 2,110 games companies. The industry provides high skilled employment: over 80 per cent of the development workforce in many studios are qualified to degree level or above.

However, findings from the recently published TIGA Making Games in the UK 2026 report show that the games development sector lost 1,537 development jobs in the year to September 2025 – a 4.5 per cent fall that abruptly ends 14 consecutive years of growth for the UK games sector. Including knock-on effects in the supply chain (2,810), an estimated 4,347 jobs have been lost overall.

Conclusion and policy recommendations

TIGA believes that by strengthening collaboration between industry, education providers and Government, the UK can continue to develop the skilled workforce required to sustain its position as a global leader in video games development.

Based on the report’s findings, TIGA is calling on Government to take a coordinated 8-point approach to strengthening education, skills and training across the pipeline:

1. Schools: Improve attainment in core subjects such as Maths and English while supporting access to creative and arts education to foster well-rounded, innovative talent. Games development requires a mix of high technology skills, which are underpinned by STEM subjects; and animation, artistic, design and narrative skills, which are enabled by arts subjects.
2. Further Education: Ensure sustainable funding for FE colleges and ensure that vocational qualifications meet the needs of industry and support learner progression to higher education.
3. Higher Education: Maintain strong investment in universities, encourage industry collaboration and consider initiatives such as industrial secondments to enhance teaching relevance.
4. Training: examine the case for incentives for smaller studios to expand training provision, especially in relation to leadership and management skills.
5. Qualifications: Ensure new vocational pathways (V Levels) provide sufficient breadth and depth for games education.
6. Apprenticeships: continue to support greater flexibility in the system to meet the needs of industry.
7. Migration: Maintain an effective immigration system that enables studios to recruit highly skilled international talent where necessary.
8. Internships: Explore incentives to support industry placements and internships, helping students gain practical experience and improve employability.

Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO of TIGA, said:

“The UK games industry benefits from a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. Skill shortages have eased in line with the wider industry downturn, but they have not disappeared. Some studios continue to experience skill shortages in key areas, including programming.

“Encouragingly, studios are responding by investing in training, promoting from within and adapting their workforce strategies. However, we need to strengthen the talent pipeline further. Closer collaboration between industry and education, alongside targeted policy support, will be essential to ensure that the UK continues to produce the highly skilled people needed to sustain growth in the UK video games development sector.”

Dr Neil Dansey, Programme Lead (Games), School of Film, Media and Creative Technologies, University of Portsmouth, said:

“This report provides valuable insight into the evolving skills landscape within the UK games industry. While it is encouraging to see the strength of the UK’s education pipeline and the high level of workforce proficiency, the findings highlight the continued need to align education closely with industry requirements. Strengthening collaboration between universities and games studios will be essential to ensure graduates are equipped with the technical, creative and professional skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing sector.”

You can download the full report here.