TIGA, the trade association representing the games industry, said today that while Sir James Dyson was right that the UK needed more engineers, he was wrong to imply that the video games industry was unimportant.
TIGA made the comments in response to concerns expressed by Sir James Dyson that technology graduates are being lured away from engineering and into careers in games, to the detriment of the former.
TIGA added that more highly skilled graduates were needed to overcome shortages in engineering, video games and other high technology sectors.
Dr Richard Wilson, CEO of TIGA, said:
“The UK video games industry is an R&D intensive, export focused sector that contributes around £1 billion to the UK economy and which provides highly skilled jobs for creative people. The video games industry is an excellent career choice. Equally, there are good careers available in many engineering industries including those relating to aerospace, defence, energy, motor racing, and medical engineering.
“What both the engineering and video games sectors need is a good supply of highly skilled graduates. To achieve this we need to encourage the study of subjects relevant to these industries, increase investment in higher education and operate a flexible migration policy. Unfortunately, the UK spends just 1.3 per cent of GDP on tertiary education compared to 2.6 per cent in the USA and our migration policy is becoming more restrictive. This is sowing trouble for the future.”
Notes to editors:
For Sir James Dyson’s comments, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20942015
About TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games publishers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses and universities amongst our membership. Since 2010, TIGA has won 14 business awards and has been nominated a finalist for 16 other awards.
TIGA's vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation, generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities.
For further information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939 643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org.