New data from trade association TIGA shows that the UK has experienced a surge of independent game studio start-ups.
A new report from the Independent Game Developers’ Association (TIGA) shows that 557 new studios were formed in the United Kingdom between April 2020 and December 2021.
TIGA says this takes the number of “verifiable, discrete independent and publisher-owned studios” from 1,041 in April 2020 to 1,528 in December 2021, an increase of 47%.
The report also states that most UK-based studios are micro-sized, with around 78% having less than five employees.
Speaking about the data, TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson OBE says:
“The UK video games industry has experienced a wave of start-ups during 2020-21. This torrent of start-ups has been partly driven by COVID lockdowns and the necessity to move development staff to remote working. Record numbers of game developers have incorporated throughout the research period. Many have commercialised side-projects undertaken in developers’ increased spare time. The increase in start-ups also reflects strong consumer demand for games and relatively low barriers to studio formation, especially on mobile.
Wilson says the challenge is to support these studios through access to tax relief and the establishment of a Video Games Investment Fund to assist studios with professional and financial expertise.
For more information on the initiatives proposed by TIGA, visit the association’s official website.
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