Scottish games industry grows by 27 per cent

The Scottish games industry now employs more than 4,354 games professionals, according to new statistics released by trade body TIGA.

The figures claim that 1,540 people were employed full-time in games development in November 2017, spread across 91 different companies. This is an increase on the 1,290 staff at 85 companies noted in 2016.

There are also 2,814 employees in jobs that indirectly support the game development sector, up from 2,408 in 2016.

Scotland is currently the third largest cluster, behind London and the South East, making up 8.9 per cent of the UK’s games companies and 11.6 per cent of the UK’s games developers. TIGA has reported that the industry has also grown by 27 per cent between March 2016 and November 2017, making it one of the fastest grown games clusters in the UK, just behind the North West of England, which had 32 per cent growth over the same timescale.

"The Scottish video games industry is rocketing away," says TIGA CEO Richard Wilson. "The Scottish games sector is diverse, with companies working in games for mobile, online, educational and console markets.

"If the industry is to continue to grow then we need to ensure that more Scottish games companies benefit from video games tax relief, a measure which effectively reduce the cost of games development."

Across the entire UK there is an increase in those employed in the industry, but Scotland, long famed in the industry for a strong collection of studios in Edinburgh and Dundee, is growing into a real powerhouse north of the border.