Scotland's Games Ecosystem Cluster
First Minister John Swinney has appointed Alyn Smith MSP as the Scottish Government’s new Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education. This is a role which is central to the future of Scotland's games ecosystem and the adoption of the national Games Action Plan. Smith succeeds Ben Macpherson MSP, who stepped down from the ministerial …
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This week, the UK games industry is in Westminster. Meeting politicians. Making the case for investment, recognition and support. It's the right conversation. But in the wrong room. With the wrong map. And the wrong ambition. The UK has a secret weapon. A globally significant, internationally recognised, economically extraordinary capability in interactive technology that is …
Continue reading "The UK’s Secret Weapon. And Why We Keep It Hidden…"
Following the conclusion of the 2026 elections and the formation of the new Scottish Government cabinet, the Scottish Games Network has formally briefed the First Minister and their ministerial team on the immediate economic, cultural, and social opportunities waiting within our national games ecosystem. To ensure absolute transparency and to foster a truly collaborative approach …
Level Up: If you missed the live stream of the Scottish Parliament yesterday, you missed a significant turning point in the ongoing evolution of our industry - with a ministerial commitment to review the action plan "line-by-line" at a future meeting of the cross-party group for Scotland's games ecosystem. Building on the foundations laid by …
Continue reading "WATCH: Momentum Builds at Holyrood for Scotland’s Games Future"
UPDATE: Time of debate moved back to 18:30. The parliamentary debate on Level Up: Scotland's Games Action Plan will take place around 18:30 tomorrow afternoon - Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026. Tickets are already sold out to attend the session in-person, but you can watch live and online using the Scottish Parliament TV streaming service. I'll …
Continue reading "Live Debate: Scotland’s Games Action Plan @ Holyrood: 18:30, Feb 3rd 2026."
If I’m honest, I’m still trying to process the last week... After two years of trying to deliver Scotland's Games Action Plan - running workshops, pulling together over a thousand data points, separating the practical and achievable from the aspirational, and finding ways to work with the country's existing infrastructure - we finally handed Level …
Continue reading "The World is Watching: Let’s Level Up Scotland"
Level Up: Scotland's Games Action Plan: Today, at 09:30 in a room at CodeBase Edinburgh filled with MSPs, and again at 13:00 in the Abertay CyberQuarter in Dundee, we are doing something that has never been done before in the history of our sector. We are handing over a unified vision for the future of …
The Scottish Games Network strongly supports the new open letter from Ukie to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, calling for a new "Games Growth Relief" fund. This push for significant new UK-wide investment is critical and validates the core thesis of our own work. This is a powerful moment for the …
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You may have noticed that the news feed on the Scottish Games Network has been quieter than usual over the past week. That quiet has not been for a lack of activity. In fact, it’s been precisely the opposite. Behind the scenes, this has been a period of intense and focused work. It’s been a …
Continue reading "The Quiet Work: An Update on the Next Chapter for Scottish Games"
An Open Letter To Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes MSP and Business Minister Richard Lochhead MSP The Scottish Games Network is celebrating the success and ambition of last week's National Innovation Summit. The event you created - bringing together innovators, pioneers, business leaders, academia, and government - is hugely beneficial for Scotland's future. We were …