UK trade association TIGA has released new research showing the British games industry is "young, independent and mobile."

According to TIGA's figures, gathered through an 'extensive' survey of games companies, 37 percent of all UK studios are now primarily focused on mobile platforms.

And of the studios formed in 2011 and 2012, 53 percent are focused on mobile and tablet gaming.

The survey also found that 83 percent of studios founded during this period are independent, rather than publisher-owned.

The young ones

"The UK games development sector is young, independent and mobile," said TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson.

"Over half of the studios in the UK started up in the last four years. The overwhelming majority of the UK's studios are independent: there are 34 publisher studios and 414 independent studios.

"Increasingly studios' preferred platform for games is mobile and tablet: almost two-fifths of the UK studio population now primarily make games for these platforms," Wilson continued.

"The attraction of the mobile and tablet market to UK developers is clear. The mobile and tablet market is substantial and growing: sales of smartphones are expected to hit 1 billion globally in 2013."

Smashing news

TIGA's announcement was adorned with statements from successful UK mobile developers, including Smash Cops developer Hutch Games.

"TIGA's research shows that the UK games sector is shifting rapidly towards mobile and tablet games development," explained Hutch CEO Shaun Rutland.

"Smartphone and tablet gaming presents the greatest opportunities and our own experience at Hutch shows that the right game and business model can be extremely successful in this market."

Dr Richard Wilson ended his statement by emphasising the importance of games tax relief to the continuing health of the UK industry.

"Many start-up studios fail to endure, partly because of limited access to finance," Wilson said. "Games tax relief effectively reduces the cost of games production, improves access to capital and will stimulate the production of culturally British games."

[source: TIGA]