UK forecast to be Europe's premier development hub within 5 years

European game developers hold the UK in high regard, and expect the region to be the continent's premier development hub in five years time.

That's according to GDC's second annual European State of the Industry Survey, which quantifies the responses of over 400 European games industry professionals in order to offer insight and reveal trends.

The UK is expected to flourish, and overtake Sweden as Europe's top hub largely because of Britain's soon-to-be-introduced tax breaks.

A welcome development

47 percent of respondents felt that the UK offers the best tax breaks for local game development, however, the UK is still seen as inferior to Canada, which leads the international charge with regards to tax.

The survey also revealed that crowdfunding is finding more friends in Europe, with 41 percent of participants admitting they plan to use crowdfunding to finance their future projects.

Finally, mobile shows no signs of slowing down in Europe, with 65 percent of respondents explaining that they currently have a mobile title in development, while a further 64 percent planning to release their next game on mobile platforms.

For information on GDC Europe, which kicks off in Cologne on 11 August, follow this link. You can find out more about the UK's games tax relief here.