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New UK Games Map shows country's 2,000 games companies

Showing the true scale of the British games industry

New UK Games Map shows country's 2,000 games companies

There are 1,949 active games companies registered in the UK, according to new research by industry trade body Ukie and Nesta.

The two have partnered together to create The UK Games Map, which lists companies across the country and their location.

The pair, who previously collaborated on the 2014 report A Map of the UK Games Industry, have expanded on its findings with a real-time, dynamic, big data-powered database of British games sector.

The UK Games Map charts all kinds of companies in the industry, from developers to educational institutions, to track fluctuations and trends in the scale and geography of the industry.

Hidden talent

Of the 1,949 active games companies registered in the UK, 66% were founded in 2010 or later.

However, Ukie and Nesta have also revealed that 59% of these companies are registered incorrectly, according to the UK's Standard Industrial Classification system.

This results in an underrepresentation of the industry's true scale in national and international figures.

As such, Ukie has been quick to reiterate that games developers should be listed as 62.01/1 and publishers as 58.21, to ensure their inclusion in the government's figures.

Beyond the stats

Indeed, Ukie CEO Dr. Jo Twist sees The UK Games Map as the truest indicator of the British games industry's current scale.

“We know that the UK’s games and interactive entertainment sector is a huge global success story," said Twist. "The UK Games Map will be an invaluable visual tool and data source for the sector, and owned by the sector.

"We can use it as a baseline to track our economic success and reach, as well as analyse other datasets, such as headcount or exports, to spot emerging and important patterns, trends, and opportunities. 

"There remains a huge discrepancy between official statistics about the size and shape of the games industry, and we are using this opportunity to once again remind games businesses across the UK to check and amend their SIC Code to ensure that the UK is represented as the world-leading player that it is.”

The UK Games Map is now available here.


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Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.