[Industry news] UK’s most successful independent games placement scheme launches £25,000 drive as report shows 88% of participants land industry work

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

Into Games, the UK charity widening access to games careers, has published a new evaluation of Boost, its paid work placement programme, showing that 88% of participants went on to full-time, part-time, or major freelance work in the industry after their placements ended. The charity is now raising £25,000 to fund at least 10 further placements for its 2026 cohort.

Boost gives young people three months of paid work inside real studios, across disciplines ranging from programming to community management. Every participant comes from a working-class or low-income background, and more than 150 studios have signed up to take on talent through the scheme. Into Games describes it as the only independently funded paid placement programme in UK games.

The findings come at a bruising time for the sector. Entry-level hiring has contracted sharply in the UK and globally, and the traditional routes in, unpaid work, personal contacts, and the ability to relocate or work for free, have narrowed to the point where they exclude most people who can’t self-fund a start. Boost is designed to remove exactly those barriers.

The evaluation reports that 100% of both participants and employers would recommend the programme. Full findings are available at https://intogames.org/news/boost-pilot-evaluation, and participant stories can be read at https://www.intogames50.uk/winner-stories.

There is currently no public funding for work of this kind. Each placement costs £3,750 to deliver, and Into Games part-funds this through its existing charity income. The £25,000 campaign covers the remaining £2,500 per person. For every £2,500 raised, one young person is placed into a paid studio role.

Declan Cassidy, CEO of Into Games, said: “The talent has always been there. What’s been missing is a fair way in. Boost proves that when you give young people from working-class backgrounds a paid, structured shot at a studio role, they don’t just cope, they thrive, and the studios want to keep them. With entry-level opportunities drying up, this is exactly the moment the industry can’t afford to lose that talent…”

The campaign is live now. Studios, industry figures, and members of the public can donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-get-10-people-hired-in-games