Project Pathfinder: Last week, the Herald published its list of the 50 most powerful people in Scottish arts and culture. It was an impressive collection of talent – but it was also a perfect snapshot of why the interactive sector remains a ‘billion-pound ghost’ in our national policy.
Despite being one of the most successful and high-value creative industries we possess, not a single person from the games industry made the list. This invisibility was not a cultural snub; it is a systemic and ingrained risk to our economy.
The Reality Check
For the first time in 14 years, the UK games market is in retreat. Recent data from TIGA shows a sharp 4.5% fall in development jobs, with over 1,500 roles lost in a single year. We are navigating a global market that is increasingly volatile, saturated, and facing increased competition.
As I recently noted in the PocketGamer.biz Mobile Mavens discussion, government support has moved from a ‘nice-to-have’ benefit to a priority. In 2026, a region without a dedicated strategy (or Games Action Plan) isn’t just less competitive – it is effectively invisible in the global market.
A Step in the Right Direction, but Only a Step
We genuinely welcome the UK Government’s recently announced £30 million Games Growth Package. This investment is a vital vote of confidence in the sector. However, it is important to note that this funding addresses only one of the five key recommendations within “Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan“- specifically, the need for a dedicated IP fund.
While funding for new games is essential, it does not address the fundamental need for strategic recognition, knowledgeable business support, education & skills alignment, or the industrialisation of games technologies and techniques. Rather than simply funding more products, we must build the infrastructure that allows our talent to thrive across the entire economy.
Introducing Project Pathfinder
As the author of Level Up, I have argued that we must bridge the ‘Translation Gap’ between games and the wider economy. Today, the Scottish Games Network (SGN) is moving beyond advocacy into industrial delivery with the launch of Project Pathfinder.
We have formally applied for Ecosystem funding to support this initiative and are currently securing letters of support from organisations across Scotland’s other key industries, includeing: Healthcare, Energy, Fintech, Cyber, Data, Creative Industries, Space and more.
Project Pathfinder is not just another games project – it is the only approach currently active in the UK that treats games as an innovation engine for the wider economy and an integral part of the country’s digital future.
By industrialising the connection between game-native technologies, such as Real-Time 3D, simulation, visualisation, engagement and creative design with other critical industries, we are creating a blueprint for the future. Project Pathfinder is a pilot for Scotland (and the proposed National Games Innovation Centre), but it offers a scalable model for the UK as a whole.
(It also offers the opportunity for revenue outside the hit-driven consumer games market, which could potentially make the country’s game developers more investment-friendly).
What Is Project Pathfinder?
It’s simple. Project Pathfinder looks for ways to bring the country’s games ecosystem together with other industries and sectors, and explore opportunities to build connections, opportunities for collaboration and projects where ‘games’ offer an approach that is not yet present in those other sectors. The goal is for Scotland’s games companies, using their unique range of skills, to work with other organisations across the country to develop and deliver paid projects outside the consumer game market.
This does not stop game companies from working on videogames. Instead, it takes the unique skills and approach from the games world and makes them relevant to the challenges and opportunities in other key parts of our economy.
The project aims to deliver three major pieces of work:
- The MTG (More Than Games) Registry: A national digital directory allowing global organisations to find and understand the technical capabilities, skillsets and commercial benchmarks of Scottish games studios.
- The Public Sector Interactive Procurement Toolkit: A bespoke framework to help government departments, public sector bodies, local authorities and corporations understand how to procure interactive services.
- Industrial Activation Sprints: Tailored sessions, connecting game studios with industrial leaders across multiple sectors outside the games ecosystem. This could be a delegation going to a trade event, a tailored workshop to gather data from both sectors, or a dedicated business development sprint.
The Call to Action
The reality is that we simply do not need yet another ‘test-and-finish’ review, which pushes any sort of support another two years down the road. We need the infrastructure that turns our elite £151,382 GVA-per-head potential into a resilient and integrated national asset.
SGN is looking for Founding Industrial Partners to lead our first Activation Sprints. If you are a leader in a high-growth sector and you are struggling with complex data, engagement, or simulation, the games sector may have the solution.
We already have letters of support from some of the country’s leading innovation organisations, including: the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), Social Enterprise Academy (SEA), ScotlandIS, and Tech Scaler with many other organisations lining up to support the project. We’ll be sharing the letters as they are agreed and showing the appetite across Scotland’s economy for collaboration.
If your organisation is interested in exploring ways to understand and work with the games ecosystem please get in touch for an exploratory conversation.
The era of invisibility ends now. It is time to press start on the future of the UK’s interaction economy.
Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash