Midlands Engine Video Games
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Midlands Engine Video Games
2 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
2,220
The UK has over 2,220
games companies and the
market for games was valued
at a record £5.11bn in 2017
great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 3 Contents The UK Games Sector 4 The Midlands Gaming Story6 Midlands Games Cluster 7 Case Study – AppyNation 8 Serious Games 9 Skills 10 Tax and Incentives 12
4 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
The UK Games Sector
The UK has over 2,220 games Boxed physical copies of games
companies and the market for games reversed recent trends by increasing
was valued at a record £5.11bn in 2017, revenues +3.1% to £790m, driven by
representing +12.4% growth on the major franchises and games sales on
previous year. the new Nintendo Switch. As these sales
of new games improve across both
These results show strong growth digital and physical, data showed that
across both the game software and pre-owned games sales declined by
hardware markets, with software -15.1% to £101m.
revenues up +8.3% to £3.56bn
and hardware growing significantly Game developers in the UK are largely
by +27.1% to another record of focused on competitive online play to
£1.43bn. The analysis also includes build brands and encourage subscription
an assessment of the wider spend payments. While some games will be
on game-related culture, which was able to offer free downloads followed
valued at £117m. by regular season passes, the majority
will still need to charge upfront fees.
In software, data showed digital and Most gamers are still happier paying
online revenues grew by +13.4% to for games upfront and having more
a record £1.6bn (incorporating full transparency over costs. While the
game downloads, DLC and in-game purchase of additional content is
transactions, across both PC and valuable, gamers will not want to pay
console) and mobile revenues broke the extra fees for content they consider
billion barrier for the first time, growing core to the gaming experience, such as
+7.8% to £1.07bn. key characters.
Category 2016 (£m) 2017 (£m) % Growth
Digital & Online 1,408.30 1,597.00 13.40%
Boxed Software 766.7 790.5 3.10%
Mobile Games 995.1 1072.7 7.80%
Pre-owned 119 101.1 -15.10%
Game Software Total 3,289.20 3,561.20 8.30%
Source: UKIE, UK Games Industry, 2018; Mintel, Video Games and Consoles, August 2018
great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 5
UK mobile games eSports
There are 1,483 active games companies In 2016, the UK esports audience grew
making mobile games in the UK. to 6.5 million people, with 3.1 million
watching more than once a month.
The UK has the largest mobile games
The audience is expected to grow
workforce in the EU, with 5,000 full-
7.5% year-on-year to reach 8 million
time employees. This represents nearly
people in 2019.
a quarter of all 21,000 mobile game
jobs across the EU. The UK esports market will see a 27.6%
CAGR, reaching £8m in consumer
Over 70% of UK adults (approx. 40m)
ticket sales by 2021. Digital advertising
own a smartphone and 59% of UK
in esports will increase to £12m by
households (approx. 15.9m) own a
2021, a CAGR of 46.2% presenting
tablet. This represents a massive
an interesting opportunity for
potential customer base for mobile
advertising agencies.
game companies to target. To back this
up, 47% of UK smartphone owners use There is also growing grassroots
apps on their phones to play games – eSports scene in the UK’s universities,
more that use apps for online banking with 3,000 players in the National
(40%) or reading the news (33%). University Esports League, representing
110 universities.
In terms of revenue per download, the
UK is best positioned in western Europe The largest prize pool event held in the
with a potential profit of $0.47 per UK to date was ESL One Birmingham,
download. The UK is more profitable with a prize pool of $1 million, held at
than Germany, United States and China. Arena Birmingham in May 2018. whilst
the largest LED screen in the country is
at an eSports arena in Leicester.
1,483
Active games
companies making
mobile games in the UK
6 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
The Midlands Gaming Story
The Midlands is a thriving hub of In nearby Coventry, the CUE
capability and development which Interactive, a spin out of the School
is home to 250 of the UK’s best of Computing, Engineering and
games businesses. These games Mathematics at Coventry University, is
companies are creating highly skilled, an internationally recognised centre of
productive jobs and opportunities excellence in the application of games
throughout the region. technologies in learning, professional
development and applied research.
Overall the region has produced 13% of
all the UK’s games and on average the The Leamington games cluster has
West Midlands is home to the longest developed over more than three
established video games companies decades through a distinctive focus on
in the country. quality and creativity. The birthplace
of Dizzy, Guitar Hero and Forza
‘Silicon Spa’ is an established games
Horizon, it is an outstanding example of
cluster, centred on Royal Leamington
developing regional economic growth
Spa and taking in Coventry and the
through a local ‘smart specialisation’
towns of Warwick and Southam, with
in a sector that demonstrates clear
over 80 studios directly employing
advantages over its competitors in
some 2,500 people and supporting a
international markets.
wider base of contractors.
Towards the east of the Midlands we
see an impressive resume of games
which have left a lasting impression
upon an entire generation of gamers.
Leicester created one of the most
influential and impressive games of all
time, GoldenEye 007, and it was Core
Design in Derby who originated the
Tomb Raider series. Heroine Lara Croft
would go on to become a pop culture
phenomenon in film and advertising,
as well as games. The first two Tomb
Raider titles, developed in the Midlands,
sold more than 10 million copies on the
PlayStation alone.
Source: Games Industry in Coventry and Warwickshire, 2017, iNews Midlands Video Games Industry,
May 2018, Warwickshire County Council
great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 7
Midlands Games Cluster
Collectively the Midlands has created
over 1,400 games and 250 companies
can be found in the region.
In the East Midlands there are 110 active
games companies have produced
nearly 400 games. Just over half of the
regions games are developed for IOS
systems but high quality console games
still account for a large proportion of
production; around 40% of all games
are developed for PCs or consoles.
The West Midlands is home to 135
games developers and publishers who
have created over 1,000 games. Over
80 of these active games companies are
located in Coventry and Warwickshire
where the rate of company formation
is high – 50% of active businesses in
the cluster have been established since
2012, and two-thirds since 2010. There is a core of medium sized
companies (between 50 and 500
It is estimated that there are 3,500
employees) that ‘anchor’ the cluster:
full time employees across the games
Codemasters, Sega Hardlight, Ubisoft
sector in the West Midlands.
Leamington (previously Freestyle
A high proportion of companies in Games), Playground Games (Microsoft
Leamington are high-growth (hitting Xbox Studio) and Rebellion. This spread
£1m turnover within 3 years of trading, of larger companies underpins the
and growing at 20%+ per annum) with employment opportunity for games
a significant minority turning over professionals in the region: there is a
more than £5m. very high likelihood that one or more of
those companies will be ‘gearing up’ for
a new game at any time, smoothing out
the ‘peaks and troughs’ of a hit-based
business that can affect less well-
established clusters, or those dependent
on a single large company.
Source: Games Map UK, 2019
8 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
Case Study – AppyNation
AppyNation was founded by Andy AppyNation tests how games businesses
Payne in 2011 in London as a might work together to successfully
developer-led collaborative consortium exploit their own intellectual property.”
of independent studios from around AppyNation was also recognised by
the UK who came together with the UK Government as providing
the backing of NESTA to offer foundations for growth and
an alternative to the traditional development within the industry, with
publisher model. former Culture Minister Ed Vaizey saying
In 2015 AppyNation relocated to that such a scheme is “exactly what the
Leamington Spa and focused on games industry needs to grow”.
publishing their own free to play
mobile and tablet games developed
only by Supersonic. AppyNation
is highly profitable and totally “The UK has the world’s
independent with no debt. best developer talent.
Jon Kingsbury, programme director
Born out of an idea shared by for the Creative Economy at NESTA
developers Finblade, Proper Games,
Niffler, Onteca, Supersonic and
Chromativity, AppyNation gave
member developers freedom over
the games they choose to develop for
iOS & Android whilst allowing them
to maintain complete control and
ownership over their IP.
AppyNation and the collaboration
between publisher and digital, social
and independent UK developers it
represented was very positively received
by the games industry and already
having the support of NESTA and
industry associations TIGA and Ukie.
Jon Kingsbury, programme director for
the Creative Economy at NESTA, said
in 2011: “The UK has the world’s best
developer talent.
great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 9
Serious Games
Cue Interactive is a digital studio based The team of artists, programmers
in Coventry, UK and is part of the local and engineers’ experiences include
university. The studio are experts the commercial games industry which
in developing large scale immersive means they’re highly skilled at using
simulations, 3D visualisations using the latest technologies on demanding
virtual and augmented reality, and projects with a creative flair. Cue
gamification applications. This Interactive also have expertise in
enables their clients to better engage, delivering 3D simulations for training
train and/or support their staff applications and is recognised by
the Learning and Performance
and customers.
Institute accreditation as a Learning
Solutions Provider.
Services Include:
• Simulation – Where the training
is dangerous or expensive to do in
the real world Cue Interactive can
simulate it to provide safe learning
and practice environments across
platforms including Virtual Reality.
• Visualisation – Virtual and
augmented reality expertise
applied to visualise complex data
and environments using 360
photography, 360 video, CAD, BIM
and 3D modelling
• Gamification – The studio can
deliver game based experiences
and applied game mechanics
through programming and
experience design expertise for
learning and behaviour change
Source: http://cueinteractive.com/
10 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
Skills
Students and Graduates in This pipeline of talent is sourced from
the UK over 30 different higher education
courses at 20 different higher
In the 2016/17 academic year there were
education providers in the Midlands.
540 games graduates in the Midlands.
This can be split into 275 in the East Staffordshire University
Midlands and 265 in the West Midlands. The Staffordshire University School
In total the UK produced 1,675 games of Computing offered one of the first
graduates across all regions. BSc courses in computing in the United
In the same academic year there was Kingdom and its first major computer
a total of 6,330 students studying was a second hand DEUCE.
game subjects across the UK. The They have since developed a strong
East Midlands accounted for 890 of curriculum to support the growing
these students and the West Midlands games industry in the UK. Courses
accounted for 940. include Computer Games Design, 3D
Using a broader range of subjects that Games, Games Studies and Games
can be categorised into computer Development & Testing.
science and creative arts & design we
De Montford University
see a total pipeline of 40,890 students
in the region and 276,845 across the DMU has achieved Gold, the highest
UK. From the academic year 2016/17 ranking possible under the Teaching
there was a total 21,890 graduates in Excellence Framework (TEF) indicating
the region and 86,335 in the UK. the outstanding learning and teaching
on offer at DMU. In 2017 92.9% of
In the East Midlands there are 7,025 Computer Games Programming
computer science students and 13,110 graduates found employment or
creative arts & design students. There enrolled in further study after
were also 1,925 computer science graduating. De Montford University
graduates and 4,035 creative arts & excels in many different computer
design graduates. science subjects.
In the West Midlands there are 8,805 Example courses include Computer
computer science students and 11,950 Programming, AI for Simulation,
creative arts and design students. There 3D Modelling and Mobile
were 2,750 graduates in computer Games Development.
science and 4,185 graduates in
creative arts & design.great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 11
540
In the 2016/17 academic year
there were 540 games graduates
in the Midlands.
Coventry University Birmingham City University
In 2019, Coventry University was the Offering accelerated 2 year courses that
highest ranked modern university for guarantee a video game development
the 7th year running in the UK and 92% placement in the in-house studio. The
of the research has been rated as ‘world- work-place simulation approach of the
leading’, ‘internationally excellent’ or department has been championed
‘recognised internationally. by the influential 2009 Livingstone,
Hope Next Gen Report which cited the
Coventry University’s School of Art and
university as a national best practice
Design has a long tradition of producing
example for developing new talent for
highly employable graduates, making
the games industry.
a distinctive contribution to creative
industries around the world. Courses 2 year courses are available in several
relevant for the industry include Graphic subjects including Video Games Digital
Design and Games Technology. Art, Video Games Design & Production
and Video Games Development.
Source: Games Map UK, 2019; HESA Student Record 2016/17; www.staffs.ac.uk/ ; www.dmu.ac.uk ; https://www.
theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-league-tables-201912 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
Tax and Incentives
Video Games Tax Relief R&D Tax Credits
Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) The UK has a generous and
has been available for qualifying internationally competitive R&D credit
games companies to claim since system. The average claim made by
April 2014. This scheme supports SMEs in the UK is £53,876 (2016-17); the
9,240 FTE jobs across the UK games average claim made by large companies
industry, including 4,320 directly in in the UK is £272,881 (2016-17). There
development roles (31% of the total UK are different regimes tailored to large
development workforce). companies and Small and medium sized
enterprises (SME):
VGTR has provided £230m to UK
studios across 770 claims since the SME R&D Relief
relief was launched in April 2014. Of The SME scheme allows eligible
that total, £105m was paid out to 345 companies to claim an overall
claims in the financial year 2017-18. deduction of 230% on qualifying R&D
VGTR games represented £389.9m of expenditure. The cash back available
UK development spend, 31% of the total to loss making SMEs is 33.35% of the
development spend. Overall, projects qualifying expenditure.
supported by the VGTR contributed
£525m in GVA to the UK economy and
£158m in tax revenue.
68% of VGTR-supported games would
not be made in the UK, or at all, without
9,240
the relief in place. The Video Games Tax Relief
scheme supports 9,240 FTE jobs
For every £1 the Government invested across the UK games industry,
into the games sector via VGTR, an including 4,320 directly in
development roles
additional £4 in GVA was generated for
the UK economy. Of all the screen sector
tax reliefs, the games sector was shown
to have the highest rate of productivity,
where each employee generated
an average of £83,800 in GVA for
the economy, significantly above the
national industrial average of £62,100.
Source: Gov.UK, Guidance, Research and Development
(R&D) tax reliefs, 2018great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 13
Research and Development Patent Box
Expenditure Credit (RDEC) Companies eligible for the Patent
Large companies are granted an R&D Box tax support can receive a
‘above the line’ tax credit of 12%’ of reduced rate of corporation tax of
their qualifying expenditure. just 10% on profits earned from
patented inventions and certain other
The following costs all qualify intellectual property.
for tax credits
The Patent Box provides an attractive
• Staff, including salaries, employer’s
NIC, pension contributions and
opportunity for businesses to reduce the
costs associated with the commercial
reimbursed expenses exploitation of IP. The regime is flexible
and generous and should prompt
• Subcontractors and freelancers global businesses to give favourable
• Materials and consumables
including heat, light and power that
consideration to using the UK as a place
to invest in innovation.
are used up or transformed by the Profits can include a significant part of
R&D process the trading profit from the sales of a
product that includes a patent, not just
• Some types of software income from patent royalties.14 great.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral
Notesgreat.gov.uk | Midlands Gaming Collateral 15
great.gov.uk DIT The Department for International Trade (DIT) helps businesses export, drives inward and outward investment, negotiates market access and trade deals, and champions free trade. Disclaimer Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this document is accurate the Department for International Trade does not accept liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements, and no warranty is given or responsibility accepted as to the standing of any individual, firm, company or other organisation mentioned. © Crown Copyright 2019 You may re-use this publication (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence visit: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or e-mail: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk Where we have identified any third party copyright information in the material that you wish to use, you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) concerned. This document is also available on our website at www.midlandsengine.org/library Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at midlandsengine@trade.gov.uk Published March 2019 by Department for International Trade.
You can also read
