A rapidly growing sector spread right across the UK
Videogames are the UK’s fastest growing creative industry, growing by 12% through 2020. 19,000 people make games professionally in the UK today, supported by another 6,000 in marketing and retail.
The UK has been a world-class exporter of games for 40 years. UK game studios contribute well over £2 billion to the UK’s economy. The best selling entertainment product of all time, Grand Theft Auto V, was mainly made in Edinburgh, grossing £600m in just 3 days.
Games studios are right across the country – only 20% of jobs are in London. Most people, especially parents and teachers, don’t know they have a world class industry on their doorsteps, and that’s especially true of parents from disadvantaged communities.
A viable career for people from every background
Games careers are viable for starters. Average games salaries for starters (£22,765) and staff in their 20s (£26,981) are over 20% more than national averages. Mid level to senior developers can earn £40,000-£60,000 or more.
Games development involves artists, writers, programmers, designers, animators, musicians, sound technicians, producers, actors and many more traditional roles like marketing and accountancy, not to mention a range of exciting roles in games streaming and Esports.
A wide range of skills are utilised in games development. Although all games jobs involve creative technology so computer science is key for many jobs; games developers use a wide range of skills – drawing, writing, maths, design, physics, music, history, all the STEAM subjects that children are studying in school today.