The number of games businesses active in the UK has reached a record high, according to new figures released alongside the re-launch of the UK Games Map by Ukie, the trade body for games and interactive entertainment.
Scottish-specific data shows that, at the time of the map’s launch, Scotland was home to 108 games companies in total; Edinburgh and Glasgow were in the Top 10 Travel to Work Areas with the highest number of games companies, whilst Dundee was in the Top 20.
Furthermore, Glasgow Central, Edinburgh North and Leith appear in the Top 20 Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies with the most games companies, alongside Dundee West which appears in the Top 10.
The Games Map is an interactive tool that shows the locations of games companies, games service providers and academic institutions providing games-related courses in the UK. It was first launched in 2016 with the support of Nesta.
It has been used by global businesses looking to set up in and invest the UK, by students looking for work opportunities close to where they live; it has also been used as a tool in telling the sector’s story to policy makers who can see how many games businesses are represented in their constituency.
The new map provides a consistently up to date view on the £5.26bn sector for industry professionals, investors, policy makers, press and students.
Games businesses levelling up the country
The new map shows that the games industry continues to be a leading sector in terms of Levelling Up and economic impact across the UK, delivering highly skilled, high value jobs.
The new UK Games Map speaks directly to the publicly available Companies House database, ensuring that closed businesses are no longer displayed, and company locations are current.
New organisations were identified first by their standard industrial classification (SIC) code, which gave a list of over 15,000 companies.
A machine learning approach was then used to identify the genuine games companies within this list, resulting in the database the map uses today.
New tools and features have also been added to the map to help people explore the data set effectively, including new data visualisation tools such as heatmap and choropleth views, additional map boundary areas (such as local enterprise partnerships) and a list view to help analyse and export data.
Users of the map can support and contribute to its accuracy in several ways. These include creating an account to suggest edits and claiming an organisation’s record to edit it directly (after a verification process).
Instructions on how to do this are here.
This updated version of the map was developed with research agency The Nursery and software developer Kieran Darcy, and supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, whilst the academic data was provided by Discover Uni, an important new partner in the project.
The map’s integration with Discover Uni’s data allows users to easily access relevant information about the academic institutions offering games courses across the country including student feedback; the Games Map updates itself alongside Discover Uni’s own database.
The map can display the range and quality of courses on offer in each institution, providing useful information to students, parents, careers advisors and teachers seeking advice about the sector.
“The UK Games Map once again shows that the video games industry is a truly national success story and an engine of growth,” said Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie.
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She addded: “It shows that the industry’s contribution to the economy benefits communities across the country and underlines why the sector is a leading success story on a global stage. We now encourage games businesses to claim their company record or create their own if it isn’t on the map, to help us tell that story.”
Harriet Finney, BFI Deputy CEO/Executive Director of Corporate & Industry Affairs said, “The UK’s video games sector has grown at a phenomenal rate in recent years, creating opportunities for investment and contributing to the sector’s creative and economic global success.
“Supporting the UK Games Map has been helpful to the BFI and industry partners in providing evidence and undertaking policy work to benefit the sector but crucially it is there for businesses to use for their development and for individuals seeking pathways to jobs.”
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