Can MPs assist to stage up the UK video games business? | EUROtoday

You’ve heard politicians speaking about tax, immigration and the financial system, however there’s one matter they do not have a tendency to say.

Video video games.

The UK’s video games business is globally revered, employs an estimated 76,000 folks and is assumed to convey £6bn a 12 months to the UK financial system.

It’s additionally a sector in the midst of a disaster.

Over the final 18 months 1000’s of staff worldwide have misplaced their jobs and studios have been shut down.

Much of the main target has been on large names reminiscent of Microsoft and Sony, each of which have laid off a whole lot of employees in 2024.

But smaller studios are feeling the pinch too.

“It’s not great and I think it’s pretty obvious,” says Greg Lee.

“Every industry is struggling right now. But investment is drying up, people don’t want to take the risk right now.

“And numerous studios are struggling closely due to that.”

Greg’s the founder of Team Terrible, makers of viral hit indie horror game The Baby in Yellow.

Described as a “Lovecraftian babysitting recreation” it’s been downloaded millions of times.

Since then, Team Terrible has moved into an office on Dundee’s waterfront – a hub for game developers.

It grew out of 4J Studios, which found success developing Minecraft for mobiles and consoles.

The Scottish city has a rich gaming heritage and – stop us if you’ve heard this one before – is the birthplace of Grand Theft Auto.

Thanks to its reputation and earlier investment in its development scene, Greg says, Dundee’s a great place to make games.

“It’s a really, very small metropolis, which implies that all the sport studios know one another very effectively,” he says.

“So there’s positively way more feeling of group, at native occasions you will just about meet your complete vary of all studios right here.

“And I think that’s really important. So it’s very easy to find new talent because you know most of the people in the city and it’s a really, really good place to grow because there’s people around to support you.”

According to business commerce physique UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) there are greater than 2,000 gaming companies in Britain.

Like Dundee, cities and cities reminiscent of Manchester, Guildford, Cambridge and Brighton are residence to clusters of huge and small video games builders.

Team Terrible employees Fergus Coyne and Jonathan Rodger say they’ve benefited from having different folks within the business shut by.

“People nearby that share the same passion as you do, you’re never feeling alone,” says Jonathan, a Dundee native.

“You can talk to people about projects, you basically are fighting the same battles.”

Both studied within the metropolis earlier than discovering jobs in gaming, and say having a group round them is a bonus.

But Fergus, who’s initially from Stirling, says the business is a “scary place” in the intervening time, and believes extra may very well be executed to assist builders.

“As of now, gaming’s still not recognised as its own sector,” he says.

“It’s lumped in with the screen industry, which includes film and TV.

“So having it not recognised in its entirety does not actually bode effectively for us feeling like we’re being represented.

“There’s more talking happening, but there’s still been no concrete information coming through.”

Both Labour and the Conservatives point out gaming of their manifesto plans for financial development, however with no particular insurance policies.

The SNP and Lib Dems say they need to rejoin the EU’s Creative Europe scheme that would present funding for studios.

Greg says that he’d wish to see politicians have interaction extra with the video games business to transcend a “cookie cutter solution”.

“I think more investigation needs to be put in to see what individual studios need at different scales,” he says.

He believes the UK’s setup for supporting video games corporations is “antiquated” in contrast with international locations reminiscent of Canada, and says he is seen a “brain drain” of proficient folks shifting overseas the place wages are increased.

“I think in order to reverse that we need to change policy to encourage students to set up here to give opportunities to bring back some of those developers to the UK,” he says.

Despite gaming turning into an even bigger a part of folks’s lives, UKIE CEO Nick Poole says, it is “still getting relatively little airplay within the the national political dialogue”.

He says it is essential for the UK to be “at the forefront” of the altering panorama

“We have a new Hollywood right on our shores,” he says.

“The video game industry is global, the UK has an amazing heritage in that industry, we want it to have a really, really bright future in the industry as well.

“And so we want authorities to reveal that they care concerning the success of the UK online game sector.”

Nick says UKIE wants parties to support developers through tax reliefs, introduce a “digital creativity GCSE” and for the next government to increase investment in the gaming sector.

Like Greg, he wants to see support that’s tailored towards the industry, rather than mirroring schemes set up for other creative fields such as film and TV.

“We actually need to sit down with them and work with them on options that genuinely work to scale up video video games,” he says.

Nick says he’s hopeful that a younger generation of MPs more in touch with gaming will be more receptive.

BBC Newsbeat approached the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to ask for further detail on how they’d support the games industry.

Thangam Debbonaire, Labour’s shadow culture, media and sport secretary, said the party would “give attention to Britain’s world class inventive industries – like gaming – to create jobs and enhance the financial system”.

“We’ll open up education and cultural opportunities, accessible to all. We’d bring in a new plan for creative industries and do an expert review on embedding creative learning in schools,” she stated.

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson stated: “The UK’s thriving video game industry makes a huge contribution to our economy and is responsible for thousands of good jobs, and we need to ensure it continues to go from strength to strength.

“The Liberal Democrats are calling for a correct industrial technique to offer our digital industries the help and certainty they want, and for severe funding in expertise coaching in order that extra persons are in a position to entry alternatives in tech.”

The Conservatives and The SNP haven’t yet added to what’s in their manifestos.

Greg says Team Terrible is actively working with the Scottish government to improve relationships and understanding of the industry.

“They appear very receptive nevertheless it’s very early days,” says Greg.

“It’s troublesome to inform long-term if there’s going to be real affect.”

Greg says he hopes the next government will see value of the games industry and work to boost it.

“I feel the UK has the potential to be an actual powerhouse up to now that it has been and there is numerous large studios that also exist right here.

“But in order to keep that going into the future, there needs to be change.

“And I feel there may be potential however it is going to take numerous effort.”

Listen to Newsbeat dwell at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or pay attention again right here.