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TIGA names London and the South East as biggest games development hubs in the UK

“London remains a games development powerhouse”

TIGA names London and the South East as biggest games development hubs in the UK

London, Scotland, the North West and South East England have been named as the biggest centres of game development in the UK.

That’s according to a report from industry trade body TIGA, which has published new data showing the largest portion of developers in the country per region based on the number of staff.

The South East topped the list with 3,194 workers, representing 22.3 per cent of the country's games workforce.

Following this very closely was London at 3,026, or 21.1 per cent, for the capital. Then in third position was the North West at 1,830, or 12.8 per cent, before Scotland rounded out the top four with 1,537, or 10.7 per cent.

When combined London and the South East employ 43.3 per cent of the UK games industry. That number has remained the same since the last report in 2017.

Interestingly though, the South East has 3,194 employees across 207 companies, while London’s 3,026 full-time staffers are more spread out across 277 games firms.

“Excellent universities”

“The South East benefits from a number of important games clusters, including Guildford, Brighton and Portsmouth,” said TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson OBE.

“Excellent universities provide these clusters with first-rate graduates. The region also boasts some iconic and innovative games studios including nDreams, Rebellion and Supermassive Games.

“London remains a games development powerhouse. The capital is home to leading games companies, including Sony and Space Ape Games and has good access to highly skilled developers, leading universities and finance providers.”


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.