Exciting news for the UK video games industry. The Government has announced a £30 million Games Growth Package to help studios to grow and to attract inward investment. The Games Growth Package forms part of the Government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan, part of the Industrial Strategy which is being published on 23rd June.
The Games Growth Package includes:
- An expansion of the UK Games Fund, a measure that TIGA has consistently campaigned for. This will help more start-ups and small studios to grow.
- More support for London Games Festival to attract more investors and reinforce the capital’s status as one of Europe’s principal games hubs.
The Creative Industries Sector Plan aims to make the UK the world’s premier destination for creative investment by 2035. It also recognises the video games industry as one of eight key growth-driving sectors. The full Creative Industries Sector Plan will be published next week as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Other measures that will help our industry include:
- The establishment of a Creative Places Growth Fund to drive regional economic growth.
- A refreshed creative careers service.
- More investment for UKRI to reinforce creative clusters.
- £25 million for the creative future programme, to fund 5 new creative R&D labs.
- More support from the British Business Bank for creative businesses, including video games studios, to help them scale-up.
TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson OBE said: “The video games industry provides high skilled jobs, is export focused and supports economic growth across the UK. The Games Growth Package is great news. In particular, the reinforced UK Games Fund will help more small studios to scale-up and grow, while the funding for London Games Festival will highlight the capital’s position as one of the most significant games clusters in Europe.”
