A vital network
The Scottish Games Network is the industry body for the video games sector in Scotland. Set up by writer and games designer Brian Baglow, the Network supports Scotland’s gaming industry to connect with other sectors and regions, promoting interactive media as a transformative technology. Covering academia, business, culture and consumer issues, the Scottish Games Network is a focal point and community for the issues affecting the games industry.
Scotland is home to world-renowned studios such as Rockstar North and 4J Studios (developers of the console versions of Minecraft), and the country’s video games sector continues to evolve incredibly quickly. More people than ever are playing games, whether on major consoles, on mobile phones, and online. Meanwhile ‘applied games’ are bringing tools, technologies and techniques from gaming to areas such as education, healthcare, fintech and tourism.
Despite this, no hard data on the size or the composition of the contemporary games sector in Scotland exists, meaning the industry’s true size and scope, and the points of intersection with Scotland’s other tech sectors and creative industries, is unknown.
Funding future growth
Through the University of Edinburgh’s Creative Informatics programme Brian has been awarded Connected Innovators funding, which supports emerging leaders in the creative industries to conduct R&D that will enable them to advance their careers and/or businesses. Brian is using the funding to undertake data-led research into Scotland’s games sector, mapping out the companies and individuals that make up the country’s games industry, as well as current opportunities for funding, development and growth.
This research will provide valuable insight into the size, the scope and the most common business practices of the games sector in Scotland. It will also highlight key challenges and opportunities for the sector to engage more strategically with the wider creative industries.
Thanks to support from Creative Informatics, we are now able to go out and lobby the Scottish Government to support the creation of a video games industry cluster: an ecosystem including academia, large studios to solo practitioners, education, public sector and government itself. We now stand a good chance of making Scotland one of the best places in the world to make video games, with a strong and pioneering games industry."“
If you have a business challenge in this sector and to explore how Edinburgh Innovations can support innovation in your organisation, please get in touch.
Header Image: littlewolf1989 - stock.adobe.com
We make it easy to access the University of Edinburgh’s multi-disciplinary expertise by matching your needs to the latest research, new technologies and world-class facilities.
