UKIE and Nesta launch UK Games Map

Trade body UKIE has teamed up with Nesta to launch an interactive map of the UK games industry.

The UK Games Map is online now and features a breakdown of all the companies working in the industry around the country, including games developers, publishers, service companies and academic institutes with games-related courses.

The map builds on an new version of a 2014 report by Nesta and UKIE, which uses web scraping techniques to automatically keep the database up-to-date and – according to UKIE – “counters poor coverage of the sector by existing SIC codes”.

The data reveals there are currently 1,949 active games companies registered in the UK – 66 per cent of which were registered from 2010 onwards.

Only 41 per cent of the companies were listed using the correct SIC code, and UKIE is encouraging all games firms to check what their own code is. Games developers should be listed as 62.01/1.

“We know that the UK’s games and interactive entertainment sector is a huge global success story,” said UKIE CEO Dr Jo Twist. “The UK Games Map will be an invaluable visual tool and data source for the sector, and owned by the sector. We can use it as a baseline to track our economic success and reach, as well as analyse other datasets, such as headcount or exports, to spot emerging and important patterns, trends, and opportunities.

“We encourage all companies to register in order to check their data, as well as add what they like to enhance the map. This is an important tool and we expect it to grow and iterate as people use it.”

The map will be formally launched during today’s UKIE Annual General Meeting.