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The UK games industry is at a critical juncture. Rising development costs, unprecedented competition and an uncertain investment landscape are squeezing studios of all sizes. Attempting to understand and address these challenges can feel daunting, especially when you would rather be focusing on your next game.
Growing is difficult, especially for independent studios. 53 per cent of all studios founded between 2008 and 2018 did not survive to 2023. Many studios stay small. 78 per cent of all UK games studios employ four or fewer people.
On 30 April, TIGA’s Start-up, Scale-up, and Grow Conference will bring together a host of industry experts to equip you with the essential information you need to navigate these choppy waters. We’ll aim to help more developers to overcome the obstacles to launching, expanding and growing a studio.
The Conference includes expert advice on how to: raise investment and claim the Video Games Expenditure Credit; lessons in leadership and management; advantages of outsourcing and coproduction; and best practice in game marketing and the opportunities of AI.
Delivered by some of the UK’s most successful industry figures, SSG will host a carefully curated series of panel sessions and talks to give you the tools to address this unique set of challenges.
Start-up, Scale-up and Grow takes place at The Passage in London on 30 April.
Themes to be covered during the conference:
• LEADERSHIP • FUNDING • CO-PRODUCTION & OUTSOURCING • GAME MARKETING • NETWORKING
• AI • VIDEO GAMES EXPENDITURE CREDIT • UK MIGRATION SYSTEM • PUBLIC FUNDING • LUNCH
• NETWORKING • POST-EVENT RECEPTION • FRESH INSIGHTS • Q&A • NEW TIGA GUIDE 2025
Agenda:
10.00 – 10.30am: Networking opportunity and refreshments
10.30 – 10.35am: Introduction, Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, Chair
10.35 – 10.45am: Making the most of Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC)
10.45 – 11.25am. Panel: Getting investment ready and funding options
We don’t need to tell you that funding is the biggest challenge facing small to medium dev studios in 2025. If you’re heading up a team right now, chances are you’ve been asking yourself a lot of questions recently: How do I make my studio attractive for financing? Are VCs even investing anymore?
11.25 – 11.40am: Coffee break
11.40 – 12.15pm: Panel: Lessons in leadership
Leadership. Get a deeper understanding of how to find your way through troubled times from leaders who have been there and done it.
12.15 – 1.05pm: Lunch and networking opportunity
1.05 – 1.40pm: Panel: AI in game development: challenges and opportunities
Over the last three years, we have seen a flood of AI tools. Discover which opportunities are right for you as a developer and what are the challenges.
1.40 – 2.15pm: Panel: Game marketing – in 2024, 19,000 games were released on Steam, making discoverability one of the hottest industry topics.
2.15 – 2.25 pm: Sourcing overseas talent: navigating the UK migration system
2.25 – 3.00pm: Panel: Scaling and growing your games studio – investment and case studies
Find out more about different financing routes, the availability of government grants, loans and angel investment. Gain practical tips from game developers that have raised finance from different sources.
3.00 – 3.15pm: Coffee / tea break
3.15– 3.45pm. Panel: Mentoring in entrepreneurship
What’s the role of mentoring in entrepreneurship? What benefits can it bring to both mentors and mentees? How do you make / find the time for this in the current climate?
3.45 – 4.20pm: Panel: Outsourcing and co-production: adding value to games development
Learn about new ways for developers to band together and reduce costs.
4.20 – 4.25pm: Closing remarks
4.25 – 6.00 p.m. Networking – Meet fellow developers and learn about new opportunities from those facing the same challenges.
Delivered by some of the UK’s most successful industry figures, SSG will host a carefully curated series of panel sessions and talks to give you the tools to address this unique set of challenges.
Start-up, Scale-up and Grow takes place at The Passage in London on 30 April.
Tickets are free for TIGA members and are priced at £73 excl.VAT for non-members. Your ticket includes access to the full day of conference sessions, lunch, refreshments, networking and a free copy of TIGA’s new Start-up, Scale-up and Grow Guide.
The agenda is subject to change and will be updated with the full details shortly.
Benefits of attending:
- 25+ speakers across investment, leadership, video games expenditure credit, recruitment and retention, outsourcing and co-production, discoverability and marketing, opportunities with AI.
- 100+ attendees – ranging from developers, founders and C-level.
- Networking opportunities throughout the day.
Tickets are free for TIGA members and are priced at £73 for non-members. Your ticket includes access to the full day of conference sessions, lunch, refreshments, networking and a free copy of TIGA’s new Start-up, Scale-up and Grow Guide.
Confirmed speakers:
Chris Kingsley CBE, alongside his brother, Jason, has created the UK’s leading independent video games development business: Rebellion. They have grown Rebellion into an extensive group of media and entertainment operations covering books, comics, TV, film and board games.
Since founding Rebellion in 1992, Chris and Jason have produced more than 100 games, over 20 of which have been worldwide number one hits. Rebellion’s critically acclaimed games include: Aliens Vs Predator; The Simpsons Game; Star Wars Battlefront; Zombie Army; and Battlezone. The studio’s flagship Sniper Elite games series has sold more than 40 million units sold worldwide.
Since founding Rebellion in 1992, Chris and Jason have produced more than 100 games, over 20 of which have been worldwide number one hits. Rebellion’s critically acclaimed games include: Aliens Vs Predator; The Simpsons Game; Star Wars Battlefront; Zombie Army; and Battlezone. The studio’s flagship Sniper Elite games series has sold more than 40 million units sold worldwide.
Rebellion directly employs 600 people and engages another 500 contractors. The company contributes to regional economic growth with studios based in Oxford, Warwick, Liverpool and Wakefield. Rebellion is also the largest independent games developer in the UK. Chris and Jason have also expanded Rebellion into comics, books, film and television and tabletop gaming:
Comics: Rebellion has the rights to comic classics including 2000 AD (featuring Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Slaine and Rogue Trooper); Charley’s War; Billy Bunter; Sexton Blake; Misty; Tammy; Battle; The Spider; and Roy of the Rovers.
Books: Chris and Jason have published several hundred science fiction and fantasy books via Abaddon Books and Solaris Books.
Film and Television: In 2018 Rebellion opened its state-of-the-art Rebellion Film and TV studios in Didcot, releasing the first Rebellion-produced feature film, Schools Out Forever, in 2021. Jason also presents and produces the Modern History TV channel on YouTube.
Tabletop Gaming: Rebellion publishes board games and miniature figures.
Gemma Brown is the Chief Operating Officer at Dovetail Games, a leading UK-based games studio, and a passionate advocate for inclusive leadership and workplace culture. With over 17 years of experience in talent lifecycle management, general management, publishing, licensing marketing, and retail, Gemma has played a pivotal role in scaling teams, driving organisational growth, and fostering innovative work environments.
As Co-Director and Ambassador Director at Women in Games, Gemma is dedicated to driving meaningful change across the industry, championing culture and belonging, and inspiring the next generation of talent. With a deep understanding of business strategy, leadership development, operational efficiency, publishing, and commercial growth, she brings a wealth of insight into building resilient, people-first organisations that can scale successfully while maintaining a strong company culture.
Game maker for over 30 years with nearly 18 years experience at Criterion Games, Electronic Arts. Left EA in 2023 and started Fuse Games with fellow ex Criterion leaders to continue their game making adventures together. Has shipped many games, most notably several of the recent Need for Speed games leading up to and including Need for Speed Unbound as well as before that Star Wars Battlefront 2, a few Battlefields, Burnout Revenge and Burnout Paradise.
Passionate about helping teams solve problems and achieve their goals in a healthy and sustainable way. Never afraid of a gnarly problem and always excited to look ahead at how the industry can grow and evolve. Father of 3 and a French Bulldog, die hard Star Wars and Lego nerd, Dungeon Master and proud Edinburgh resident!
Jo is the Design Director at Snap Finger Click, a BAFTA Breakthrough winner, member of the Games Awards Future Class, and has been in the games industry for 17 years. She started out working on the BAFTA award-winning Buzz! franchise and has since worked on several console and mobile titles including Furby! BOOM, Family Feud, and UNO. Jo has a passion for social gaming and strives to bring something unique to every game she works on. She also volunteers as Operations Lead at Limit Break Mentorship for underrepresented game developers.
Felix is a legal and business adviser who has extensive experience of advising fast growing studios with everything from business set up, fundraising, publishing contracts, IP protection, license collaborations, scaling-up and exit. He held lead/senior legal positions at Mediatonic (Fall Guys developer), Miniclip (mobile games publisher), Outright Games (family console games publisher) and Epic Games. Felix is part of Lvl Up Partners - a team of advisers who leverage their deep in-house experience to advise founders on a broad spectrum of business, legal, tech and strategic finance matters.
Charlotte loves making meaningful and wholesome games and has found her family in indie game development with amazing creatives and developers in Chirashi Games, Queensguard and Team Gramps. Focusing on sustainable development, Charlotte embraces game development with empathy and approaches projects with care and wellbeing at the forefront. When not game developing, you can find Charlotte sketching and drawing local historical sites!
Chris joined Mercia in January 2023 after a 20 year career in M&A advisory, working with SME business owners. Chris advised business owners looking to grow either through raising finance or acquiring other businesses, by helping the owners sell their business when the time was right, and working with management teams looking to buy the business they worked in. At Mercia, Chris invests in technology led business across the North of England with a focus on TMT and ecommerce. Chris led Mercia’s investment into Radical Forge in October 2024.
Chris worked for PwC in Newcastle and London, was the Chief Operating Officer at the North East England Chamber of Commerce before spending 8 years as a Corporate Finance Partner at two regional accountancy practices.
Chris worked for PwC in Newcastle and London, was the Chief Operating Officer at the North East England Chamber of Commerce before spending 8 years as a Corporate Finance Partner at two regional accountancy practices.
Sam is a commercial contracts solicitor and has focussed his career to date on the legal aspects of software, technology and data. As an avid gamer Sam is able to combine his considerable experience in video games with his legal specialisms in order to deliver extra value to his clients as video games and their delivery become ever more digital.
Colin has worked in the UK's Games Industry for over 30 years, including overseeing the early Grand Theft Autos, Crackdown, and being Channel 4 Television’s Games Commissioner. He now works with various Scottish games companies, chairs the Scottish Game Developers Association, publishes the monthly Games Opportunities newsletter for developers looking for funding/development opportunities, and is Portfolio Manager for the UK Games Fund's Content Fund.
Professor Headleand's research interests encompass Virtual Reality, Serious Games, Artificial Intelegence and Student Engagement. He has a background in design and education, holding a BSc in Design Education, an MSc in Computer Systems, and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Bangor University. His doctoral research focused on behaviour simulation in video games.
Beyond academia, Professor Headleand has entrepreneurial experience, having founded two companies: a design and software startup and a VR video games studio. He has collaborated with various international organizations, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Throughout his career, Professor Headleand has been a proponent of pragmatic and ethical digital innovation. His work in games-based education and simulation is recognized both nationally and internationally.
Nathalia is a marketing consultant and advisor in the videogames industry, with a 17 year career background across creative agencies, publishers and studios. Beginning at McCann Erickson before jumping to software publishing and marketing at PlayStation, her next move was to Square Enix mobile and then most recently leading Team17's marketing department as part of the senior leadership team. She now consults for studios and publishers on go to market strategies, harnessing the right publishing deal as well as advising on branding and positioning projects.
https://gesinimo.co.uk/
Plus Accounting offers specialist accounting and tax expertise to the Video Games Industry, with a particular focus on Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) and Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) claims. Over the years, Luke has built an impressive portfolio of more than 200 video games companies.
We are proud members of TIGA and last year, we were honoured to be finalists for ‘Best Tax and Accountancy Supplier’ at the TIGA Games Industry Awards. We also received a nomination for ‘Best Business Support Service’ at the 2024 Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards.
Lili Ibrahim joined ustwo Games in 2020 to work on socially impactful titles such as Alba: a Wildlife Adventure, and Monument Valley 2: The Lost Forest. Most recently she directed the art on Monument Valley 3.
Laurence is a Director and Solicitor in Fragomen LLP’s Sheffield Office, where he manages a team of lawyers and immigration professionals. He has over 14 years’ experience in UK immigration law and works with major corporate clients, providing strategic immigration and compliance support to manage their UK immigration programmes. He has extensive experience across a range of sectors with a particular focus on video games, technology, and engineering. He provides strategic advice on sponsor licence obligations, Day 1 compliance concerns, company restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions to ensure his clients continue to meet their reporting and record keeping responsibilities and avoid the risk of illegal working.
I’m driven by the dynamic startup landscape and the potential for technology to unlock new opportunities. Before joining Boost Capital, I spent 10+ years working at Google and Meta helping web/app developers and content creators increase both reach and monetization across these platforms. In addition, I am an active angel investor in various startups and served as a mentor with incubator programs such as Antler. I love all kinds of team sports and multiplayer online games as I really enjoy being part of a community that is bigger than myself and because it is much more fun when you share those experiences.
More speakers to be announced at a later date.
The Passage
TIGA’s partner for the conference is The Passage. The Passage has been the caretaker of the homeless community in London for the past 40 years. The Passage’s aim is to provide the support to help people transform their lives through outreach services, three residential projects, befriending programmes and the UK’s largest Resource Centre. The Passage’s services offer practical support with employment, welfare rights, immigration, and accommodation, as well as tailored advice for mental health or addiction issues and victims of modern slavery. The Passage believe that homelessness is everyone’s responsibility and by working together we can be part of the solution.
For further details please visit www.passage.org.uk or contact media@passage.org.uk
Agenda
- Registration at 10am – Refreshments and networking
- Opening remarks at 10.30am
- Keynotes and panels 10.30 – 4.30
- Networking reception 4.30 – 6.30
Finding the venue
5th Floor, St Vincent’s Centre, Carlisle Place, London, SW1P 1NL
Carlisle Place is a turning off Victoria Street. If you are walking from London Victoria Station, take the (right) turning immediately after Pret. Keep an eye out for the large red brick building.
Please enter via the St Vincent’s Centre entrance, by pressing the buzzer and letting our receptionist know that you are visiting Cathedral View.
