Most UK games industry workers are proud of the sector, but only 38% would recommend it as a place to work

• 97% of respondents have worked in games for more than one year, while 11% are company owners or directors.
• 29% worked more than 50 hours in at least one week during the past year.
• Ukie's Raise The Game programme will publish an action plan in response to the survey findings.

An experienced workforce powers the UK games industry, but while most employees are proud to be part of the sector, fewer than half would recommend it as a place to work.

That's according to the 2025 UK Games Industry Workforce Demographics Survey, published by Professor Mark Taylor and commissioned and delivered in partnership with Ukie. 

Based on 1,610 responses collected between November 2025 and January 2026, the survey examines workforce demographics, career experiences, working patterns and workplace attitudes across the UK games industry.

The findings show that 97% of respondents had worked in the industry for more than a year, while 11% are company owners or directors. 

Around 22% said they had lost a job during the past three years, although half of those who left a role secured a new position within three months. Meanwhile, 16% moved into more senior roles, while 9% were still searching for work after a year.

Industry perception 

Despite 81% saying they are proud to be part of the UK games industry and 70% recommending their employer, only 38% would recommend the industry itself as a great place to work.

Among respondents working at organisations with one or two employees, 36% reported losing a job in the past three years, compared with 13% of those at organisations with more than 500 employees.

On working patterns, 29% of respondents said they worked more than 50 hours in at least one week during the previous year, while average working hours stood at 36.6 hours per week, broadly in line with the wider UK workforce. 

Remote and hybrid working also remain considerably more common in games than across the wider workforce. The survey also found London's share of the workforce had fallen from 37% to 26%, while employment increased across most other UK regions.

Elsewhere, 64% of respondents said they grew up in households where the main earner held a managerial or professional job, a figure above the wider UK workforce and most other creative industries. 

Diversity in the workforce

The survey also found the industry remains more diverse than the wider UK workforce in several areas, with 33% of respondents identifying as women, 5% as non-binary or another gender, 33% identifying as LGBTQIA+, and 24% holding a non-UK nationality. 

However, representation of people from Ethnic Minorities remains below the wider UK workforce, with Black respondents accounting for 1% of participants. It also noted that people from Ethnic Minorities reported lower rates of career progression through diagonal moves than White respondents in 2025.

In response, Ukie said its Raise The Game programme will work with strategic partners to develop an action plan addressing the issues discovered by the survey, alongside a dedicated fund to support those initiatives.

“A report of this scale and complexity requires a nuanced and considered response," said Ukie CEO Nick Poole. “We cannot afford simply to spectate the challenges it highlights – we must come together to take concerted action to change them. 

“That is why I am pleased that Ukie will be working with the Strategic Partners of our Raise the Game initiative to develop a considered long-term plan that responds to this report.

“I hope that this report will constitute a valuable contribution to the UK games industry’s thinking about how we can all do more to model the kind of inclusive, welcoming and supportive industry that I know we all aspire to be.”

You can access the full findings here.