MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
UK trade association TIGA has released its expectations for the UK games industry as we move towards 2017, predictions given after they surveyed 50 games businesses both small, medium and large.
The key word here is growth, with 88 per cent of those that responded to the survey indicating they’re planning to expand their workforce over the next year. It’s more positive for 50 per cent of companies that took the survey, explaining that they felt more likely to reveal they’re more likely to pin down an investment in 2017 than they were a year ago, while 64 per cent have mentioned that they expect their net profits to increase over the next year.
That’s the positives, although with growth comes extra complications. 70 per cent of those involved suggest operating costs will increase — reasonable considering how many people are looking to grow their workforce — and 40 per cent are expecting the price of their products to increase.
The companies surveyed have mentioned that their biggest problems are discoverability and issues relating to financial access, issues that TIGA’s CEO Dr Richard Wilson doesn’t expect these issues to cause problems.
Instead, he’s highlighted three reasons that he thinks the UK games industry will continue to grow.
"Firstly, the consumer market for games is big, broad and burgeoning. The UK is the sixth largest market for games in the world and 31.6 million people in the UK play games," he explained.
"Secondly, the spread of mobile and tablet devices, the new console generation, the popularity of PC games and the advent of virtual reality and augmented reality are prompting investment in games. Thirdly, Video Games Tax Relief is fanning the flame of growth."
