It’s an industry that employs an estimated 76,000 people and adds £6 billion to the UK economy.
Now companies making video games are calling for political parties to spell out their plans at this election on how to support them at a time when many have hit crisis point — laying off staff and closing their doors.
BBC Newsbeat’s Andrew Rogers has been to one of the UK’s biggest hubs, Dundee, to meet the people working in, and campaigning for, the games industry.
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GTA Dundee – already in the works. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PTcGCIv3wOI?feature=share
Please can I have a job?
Proud the UK created gta rockstar mastered it
The UK games industry is impressive and something to celebrate. As for the industry as a whole though, the contrast between the 0.1% of AAA titles and the other self-described "indie" would-be should-be smartphone games is startling. It wasn't this polarised 15 years ago.
Good luck after killing contracting in this country overnight.
More DEI & Woke
DEI policies and woke liberal woman have all but destroyed the games industry.
The entertainment industry too, look at Doctor who and Star Wars.
A second "gamer gate" is in full swing right now.
Journalism has been totally subverted.
This is not tinfoil hat stuff, it's absolutely real.
You watch Ubisoft when their Assassins creed and Star wars games TANK this year through their own choices.
Did you get the mic's for the interview from IKEA?
Good to see
its going downhill…. relax
nothing because jewish corporate cucks don't know how to make good games, there hasn't been a good game since 2012
Gaming industry got too big for its britches anyway. In the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s it was "uncool" to be a gamer. They were made out of passion. Less so the desire to make money. Now, every game needs to be a blockbuster with a colossal budget, be overly anticipated, take 5+ years to make and disappoint everyone on launch, then make up the costs with DLC and pre-order bonuses. OK, maybe I'm ranting a bunch of nonsense, but deep down you know I'm right.
Loved the first studio being 4J Studios and Manic Mechancis, those were the guys who made the Legacy Console Minecraft and it was the best Minecraft ever made
Games like Manor Lords should be a case study. How a 1 man studio created a game that's been wish listed over a million times and likely netted a couple million. Triple A game developers don't cast a shadow on indie devs. If you have a good idea, a good eye for talent and the passion to make your ideas a reality, then there's really nothing holding you back. it's why triple A devs like Ubisoft and EA are tanking hard. They no longer have passion for making games, it's all about their deadlines and shareholders, and people are sick of it.
will never get taken seriously by gov
Nice bool :p
You thought gaming industry already got woke? Wait another 10 years.
The juggernaut that the video-Games industry as become; can be visualized, by using a template similar to the Oil & Gas industry.
Where one would have the following phases for it:
1. Conceptualization and base programming; as the R&P.
2. Main code programming and development; as the upstream.
3. Code compilation and debug phase; as the refinery phase.
4. Product distribution and logistics; as the downstream.
5. Commercialization and marketing of the product; as the downstream stabilization.
Therefore, and regarding the generation of jobs in the U.K. within the video-gaming industry:
Bulletin point 1, requires a stable socio-economic environment, within the U.K.; in order to keep the talented youth residing in the U.K. Then bulletin points 2 and 3 should absorb some white and blue collar workers. And lastly, bulletin points 4 and 5 type of work; should find, much mo enthusiasm by most of the U.K.'s youth; than the never ending stints, at a local kebab shop, or Macdonald's joint.
To conclude:
The video-games industry is quite complex and requires a certain determination to be a part of it. Still; it can generate many jobs, away from just having every average youngster, having to work almost forever, for some McDonald's type of joint.
Hurry up with GTA VI that might bloody help 😛
I love how the epic rock music just cuts out abruptly when he said "Dundee" and it cuts to a a shot of a typical overcast day in Scotland…
I think part of the reason is decline in demand due to the used games market as why should people buy a new release which cost £60 odd when there’s tons and tons of older games which are almost just as good already out there which cost a fraction of the price and then there’s pirated games that are free .
Question, why are children, not taught, in-depth information regarding diet, nutrition and health whilst they are at public school – mentioned public as atm I don't have anecdotal info regarding private school education.
If investing in skills related to games yields high paid jobs then investing in gaming is a straight forward investment. Unless you would like the country to be poorer and yield less tax…..
I am making a VR Competitive platformer, got two months to get the demo out for steam next fest. It wouldnt be possible if i didnt work for 10 years and invest / save. Its a gamble.
We need more EDI in video games!
It's really nice not to have a single major party instantly talk about violence and protecting children when asked about Gaming, I have no idea when they dropped all that nonsense but it sure is good even if the industry is dying thanks to zero investment, so is every industry in the Uk certainly all creative ones.
The UK government should copy what Canada did/does with their video game companies.
I spend most of my gaming time playing indie titles. Lots of fresh ideas and no microtransactions – it's a much better experience. Not something that investors would appreciate!
The biggest issue from the consumers perspective is quite simple. If companies actually make good, FINISHED games that run on the hardware that they say it does, a lot of companies would be spared their financial woes and studios wouldn't be closing or forced to hemorrhage staff. Too often of late, games developers, studios and publishers have shown nothing but contempt for their player-base or potential consumers, vehemently arguing that THEIR poor product and THEIR poor performance are not the reason a game is failing to sell and generate revenue. Poor product is NOT the fault of the consumer, and the consumer (despite what some in the industry would say) have every right to call them on their rubbish product.
All of this had lead to an all-time-low confidence in recent years in the industry, as people don't have the money to piss away £50-70 on a product which may not only be not finished, but outright unplayable. The public deserves better, and it NEEDS to get better in order for the industry to keep growing or, at the very least, stabilize after an absolutely horrific couple of years.
If the government is serious about investing in the games industry, they NEED to bring in a quality-regulatory body. A government controlled, funded and maintained agency that actively TESTS the product on a range of hardware so that, if nothing else, if a game fails it's not because it's not finished or otherwise unusable. That should never, ever be the case. A product should fail because people don't like it – not because it was never, ever, EVER fit for launch to begin with. We NEED enforced quality control in the industry, because too much shit is being allowed to fly. This is all without going into the absolutely predatory nature of micro-transactions and monetization, especially in Gacha games and a whole host of other issues plaguing the industry.
UK economics is a complete mess right now. Look at the recent news from Dyson. Companies just want to leave.
Ban all gaming it's too addictive.
valve needs to release half life 3 to save AAA gaming