Hello World! Goodbye, Games Startup Crisis!

SGN Pilot Directly Connects Games Education Pipeline To Business Creation Skills

89% Of Delegates At The First Games Student Startup Summit Now ‘More Likely To Start Their Own Business’

Hello World! The Scottish Student Startup Summit, which took place in early March 2026, offers a solution to several critical issues facing the UK’s games industry: the growing number of students studying games, the ongoing market volatility and ‘sharp decline’ across the country’s videogames sector and the significant drop in the number of new games startups.

The successful pilot of Hello World! proves it can transform a vulnerable talent pool into a more resilient wave of new founders, providing a radical new blueprint for ‘supercharged’ sectoral growth.

Data from the sold-out (150+ delegates) Glasgow event reveals that 89% of delegates are now more likely to start their own businesses as a direct result of the intervention. This surge in entrepreneurial intent comes as student numbers on games-related courses have grown by 279% since 2019, while the industry as a whole has suffered its sharpest recorded decline, according to recent figures released by TIGA. 

Hello World! provides commercial scaffolding required to bridge this gap, focusing on the business of games – rather than general industry inspiration. The summit achieved a 100% satisfaction rate by applying an Honest Architect philosophy – a transparent approach that prioritises revenue design, deep insight and market reality.

In addition to students and recent graduates drawn from all of the Scottish colleges and universities offering games courses, the organisers also opened the event to industry professionals impacted by the ongoing closures, redundancies and layoffs at studios across the country.

Data confirms that the event is already having positive impacts:

• 100% satisfaction rate: from delegate feedback.
• Six to eight new partnerships: were formed on the day via the physical Get Involved networking board. More collaborations and partnerships are now being discussed on the dedicated Hello World! Discord channel.
• 50+ educators: convened for a follow-up symposium to map the new Scottish Games Skills & Education Forum, supported and sponsored by West College Scotland.
• Increased Entrepreneurial Intent: 89% of participants reported they are now more likely to consider starting their own games business as a direct result of attending the summit.
• Enhanced Practical Readiness: 89% of attendees feel significantly better equipped with the essential knowledge and commercial scaffolding required to launch a games startup.
• Universal Inspiration: 100% of delegates reported being inspired by the real-world ‘war stories’ and commercial advice shared by the event’s industry founders and experts.
• Career Path Clarification: Two-thirds (67%) of participants found the summit successfully clarified whether pursuing entrepreneurship is the right professional path for them.

Brian Baglow, CEO of the Scottish Games Network, said:

The UK’s games sector is in crisis. The ongoing market volatility, combined with a rapidly growing number of games students – who are unlikely to be able to find entry-level employment within the sector – and an ongoing decline in the number of new games startups, leaves the country vulnerable in an ever more competitive global market.

The UK Government’s recently announced new funding package is welcome. However, at the same time, we need to build on this momentum and augment this valuable work by also teaching our students how to publish games, encourage them to form their own studios, and connect them to the business support organisations that can help.

Hello World! tackles these issues head-on and gives students at every stage of their education the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about building their own business, publishing their own games, finding funding and making money.

Created by the Scottish Games Network (SGN) in partnership with the University of Glasgow Games and Gaming Lab (UofGGamesLab) and the Scottish Games Education Network (SGEN). Hello World! was funded by and delivered with support from the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund. 

Following the success of the Glasgow pilot, SGN is now seeking a national strategic rollout. The Hello World! model is a replicable, high-impact framework designed for universities, colleges, and regional development agencies looking to de-risk entrepreneurship, support their local creative economies and build more sustainable and successful games businesses. Organisations interested in hosting a Hello World! event or exploring the opportunities within the More Than Games initiative are encouraged to contact the Scottish Games Network.