The UK video games industry grew at a record pace last year as the introduction of a new targeted tax relief for the sector started to make an impact.
New data published by industry body Tiga shows the gaming sector contributed £1.11 billion to the UK economy last year, up from £1.01bn the year previous.
The number of creative staff employed by studios increased by around 10% to a record 10,869 full-time equivalent workers during the year while the number of jobs indirectly supported grew by almost 1,800 to 19,782.
The improvement in job numbers comes despite the fact that 10% of UK-based studios shut their doors last year.
Tiga chief executive Dr Richard Wilson said the games development industry had broken records “left, right and centre” last year.
“The industry’s growth last year has been driven by three factors,” Dr Wilson said. “Firstly, the increasing prevalence of mobile and tablet devices, the growth of PC gaming and the new console generation have combined to stimulate investment and job creation.
“Secondly, a rise in start-ups has been mirrored by an expansion among existing studios.
“Thirdly, games tax relief (GTR), which Tiga played a critical role in achieving, is fuelling growth.
“GTR effectively reduces the cost and risk of games development and it incentivises investment and job creation in the games industry.”
The video games sector is particularly important in Dundee where one of the UK’s original gaming clusters formed in and around Abertay University.
The sector locally is diverse with firms involved in a range of projects from traditional games development to apps for mobile devices and software analytics.
The Tiga research shows that in addition to growing job numbers, tax revenues from the sector grew by £41m to £460m in 2014 and annual studio investment increased by £45m to £503m.
Tiga chairman Jason Kingsley said it had been a strong period for the sector.
“The UK video games development industry grew to record levels in 2014, reinforcing its status as a creative and economic success story.
“This is good news for consumers, students and developers. The UK video games industry is creating great opportunities for work, business and education.”