UK Games Fund to get ₤ 5m boost

The government of the United Kingdom has announced a new plan to encourage creative industries, which includes increased funding for video game developers.

The UK Games Fund, established in 2015, will receive an additional £5 million, increasing its total to £13.4 million over the next two years.

New funding of 77 million was announced for the creative markets overall, with the goal of growing the industry by 50 billion by 2030, creating one million new jobs.

This includes, but is not limited to, a 50 million monetary investment in the newly established Creative Industries Clusters programme in 2018, the establishment of four research and development centres to “drive the next generation of screen innovation and on-set virtual production,” and numerous other initiatives.

“The video games market invites the Secretary of State’s aspiration to increase the innovative markets,” said Daniel Wood, co-CEO of trade association UKIE. What we have always said is confirmed by today’s findings: the UK video games industry is an engine of economic growth, creating high-quality jobs across the entire country and contributing over £5 billion to GVA (with 80% of it outside London and the South East).

Everyone from mathematicians, coders, and engineers to artists, authors, and musicians are employed by our market, which supports 75,000 functions across the UK supply chain. Today’s plan will help the industry and ensure it can attract and retain the best talent as the demand for video games continues to rise and technological advancements rapidly modify the skills required of video game service.