UK games industry grouping Games Up? is campaigning for the government to take action to remedy a serious skills shortage among British graduates.

In fact, they claim that 95 per cent of the video game degrees in the UK are "not fit for purpose", although on closer investigation, this relates specifically to the fact that only four out of 81 universities offering game-related degrees are accredited by Skillset - the Sector Skills Council for creative media.

(Whether that's because the other 77 courses are poor quality - the strong implication of calling them not fit for purpose - or simply haven't applied for accreditation, is an open question).

However, the more serious problem appears to be a lack of graduates in the areas of maths, physics, and computer science - essential skills for various aspects of game development. Games Up? highlights the fact that the number of science grads has dropped by 15 per cent in the last decade, while computer science grads have fallen by 20 per cent since 2002.

The body is campaigning for the government to do more, creating Centres of Excellence modelled on the London Film School, to promote the idea of industry accreditation, and to promote maths and science to school pupils as a potential way into the games industry.

I'd be interested to see if mobile game developers are feeling this squeeze on grad talent, like their console equivalents. How big a source of talent are graduates for mobile developers, or are you expanding by taking on established console developers?

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