Scotland's Games Ecosystem Cluster
It’s fantastic how well the Scottish games industry has been able to adapt to working from home, but there’s certainly no harm in anticipating what could be coming down the pipe next. We asked the Game Guru’s what challenges they’re anticipating in 2021.
Headed up by London-based independent developer Payload Studios, the Tentacle Zone Incubator is a programme offering mentorship, networking opportunities and an all-round games industry insight to independent developers with disabilities or neurodiversites, who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, are of an underrepresented gender, or are POC or LGBTQ+.
In each edition of Game Gurus, we’ll be asking the crème de la crème of the Scottish games industry for their insights on the issues of the day. Today’s topic is: subscriptions.
Games Sales Data reports that UK games players bought 42.7 million games in 2020, which is 34% more than 2019
Hutch Games, which has a Dundee studio, has been purchased by Modern Times Group (MTG) for £375 million, with proceeds being shared with staff.
According to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), last year was a record breaking year for the UK games industry, with game development and publishing contributing a sizable £2.91bn to the UK economy. That total marked a 9.1% increase over the previous year, meaning that games in the UK entered 2020 with their best foot forward.
When asked if they thought game publishers should take a stance on societal issues, an overwhelming number of the 4000 players who took part in the Gamer Sentiment Study on Diversity and Inclusion said they were either neutral on the issue or in favour of it. Whatsmore, that sentiment held true across all demographics, regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or having a disability.
TIGA has released new data indicating growth of 17% in employment within the games industry in Scotland between November 2018 and April 2020.