The South East of England is one of the most important hubs for video games development startups in the UK, according to new research published by TIGA, the trade association representing the games industry.
While London is the number one area for games development employment, the TIGA report demonstrates that games industry talent is dispersed across diverse regions throughout the country – almost 80% of those working in the UK games industry are not based in the capital.
In the 13 months between April 2023 and May 2024, 48 new video games companies chose to start up in the South East, which was second nationally behind London (81) and ahead of the South West (22).
The head count of staff working in video games in the South East stands at 4,753 full-time and full-time equivalent staff across 384 companies.
The region now accounts for 18.7% of the UK games development workforce in total (down slightly from 19.9% in 2023).
The findings come from TIGA’s definitive report on the state of the UK video games industry, Making Games in the UK 2024, which is based on an extensive survey of UK games businesses, with analysis by Games Investor Consulting.
Games studios in the area include Rebellion (Sniper Elite series), Toikido (Pinata Smashlings), Dovetail Games (Train Simulator series), Supermassive Games (Switchback VR) and Criterion Games (Need for Speed).
London extended its lead as the largest cluster to 5,931 full-time and full-time equivalent staff in 584 companies, whereas South East’s headcount fell slightly between April 2023 and May 2024.
The report shows that, overall, the UK games development sector has grown in the past year, despite companies downsizing and studio closures.
Despite significant job losses in the global games industry during the research period, the UK’s games development sector proved to be comparatively resilient, growing to 25,419 development roles in the 13 months between April 2023 and May 2024.
However, the annualised increase in the period ending May 2024 was 4.8%, a significant decline on the annualised growth rate of 11.4%for the period up to April 2023. The 4.8% rate of growth in the UK games industry is the lowest since 2013.
Other key findings include:
The number of freelancers working for UK games development sector companies (including studios, publishers and service companies) grew substantially from 1,102 (April 2023) to 3,625 (May 2024) as very large companies downsized full-time roles and switched to freelancers.
The total games development workforce grew to 28,516 including 3,625 freelancers and 24,891 full-time development roles. Employment in the games development sector has grown by an average of 9.5% every year over the period 2014 to May 2024.
400 extant companies shed 2,353 full-time development jobs between April 2023 and May 2024 but 678 companies grew over the same period, adding 3,932 full time development jobs. 1,070 extant companies neither grew nor shed staff.
The UK now has 2,148 trading games development companies (down from 2,175 in April 2023). This includes 1,697 games studios, 60 publisher studios, 109 publishers, 4 broadcasters and 278 service companies. Total studio numbers fell from 1,801 in April 2023 to 1,757 in May 2024.
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said: “While London remains the biggest games cluster in the UK, almost 80% of all games development is carried out outside of the capital.
“In addition, there has been impressive growth in London, the North East and North West between April 2023 and May 2024.
“At the same time, although London saw the greatest number of new startups, we also witnessed strong entrepreneurial activity in the South East.”
Jason Kingsley CBE, TIGA Chairman and CEO and creative director at Rebellion, added: “TIGA’s report is reflective of what is currently a challenging environment for some parts of the games industry.
“However, it also highlights that UK games development is faring better than certain areas of the global games industry. It’s great to see the South East performing strongly as a region, particularly in terms of new companies and talent.”
