South East places second nationwide in video game development

Published by

Tom Kilkelly

LG전자, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Video game companies in the South East employs a fifth of all video games development staff nationwide.

This makes the region the second largest for gaming development staff in the country, only trumped by London.

In the period from December 2021 to April 2023, the head count of staff working in video games in the South East grew by some 12 per cent. The region accounts for 19.9 per cent of the UK games development workforce in total, equivalent to 4,781 people.

Games studios in the area include Rebellion (Sniper Elite series), Toikido (Pinata Smashlings), Dovetail Games (Train Simulator series), Supermassive Games (The Quarry) and Creative Assembly (Total War series).

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The figures above were found through an investigation and subsequent report published by TIGA. This report, named Making Games 2023, is based on an extensive survey of UK games businesses, with analysis by Games Investor Consulting.

Dr Richard Wilson, OBE, TIGA CEO, said: “While London employs over 22 per cent of the games development workforce across 587 companies, 77 per cent of all games development staff in the UK are employed outside of the capital.

''Approximately one-fifth of development staff are located in the South East of England, while the third, fourth and fifth largest centres of games development by headcount are the North West of England, the West Midlands and Scotland, respectively.

“The video games industry has immense potential to contribute to the Levelling Up agenda, not least due to the 44,000 people working in the games supply chain which is mostly based outside of London. Providing high-skilled employment opportunities, the sector has established strong creative industry clusters right across the UK.”

Tom Kilkelly

Tom Kilkelly started working as a freelance journalist for The Business Magazine following his graduation from UCL in 2022. During his studies Tom became very interested in the works of Irish authors including Samuel Beckett and Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan). His current role as a freelance business reporter is his first exposure to the world of business journalism. Working at TBM has given Tom the chance to really get to grips with the goings-on in the business hive that is the South East.