Mapping out Scotland's games sector, guest post by Brian Baglow, Founder, Scottish Games Network

Most people know two things about the videogames industry in Scotland: a) we have one, and b) it made Grand Theft Auto didn’t it?

If pushed, they might add it ‘punches above its weight’. 

Combine that with a general sense that the globally videogames are doing rather well gives a general sense that Scotland’s video games sector is probably getting on with being quietly successful. 

I’m not sure that’s the case. From some recent informal research, despite the global uptick in gaming, some of the industry here in Scotland may be struggling. 

To start with, it looks like the number of companies actually developing games has shrunk. Since 2016 it looks like we’ve lost around 65% of our developers (From 115 in 2016, to around 40 today,) despite the global games market growing.

Is that worrying? It could be. 

The problem is that the videogames industry evolves fast. Not just with new consoles, but with whole new classes of device, business models, audiences and entirely different kinds of experience. Maybe things have just shifted?

Back in the 90s, when I joined the industry as a writer on the original Grand Theft Auto, making videogames was a major undertaking. You needed large teams and lots of time and money. To get your game released you needed a publisher, who could get the game manufactured on disks or cartridges (ask your parents) for dedicated videogames consoles. 

Contrast this with today’s market. Games are ubiquitous. Every device with a screen and a processor, from smartphones to smart fridges, now play games. Most are ‘non-dedicated’ i.e. their primary function is something other than gaming. This has shifted the audience for games quite profoundly.

The games engines used by the world's largest companies, are now freely available to everyone. ‘Applied’ games bring tools, technologies and techniques from videogames to sectors such as film, television, education, healthcare, tourism and the workplace. 

Making games can now be done by individuals or small teams. Hobbyists and part-time developers are common. Large studios are now the exception rather than the rule.

Esports (playing games competitively at a professional level) has hit Scotland, along with  massive growth of streaming games on Twitch and YouTube

The problem is, we just don’t know how big Scotland’s games industry is. We don’t know where it’s based or what it’s composed of. We’ve no visibility of freelancers, or of the actual games being released. It’s never been mapped. The information we do have is inconsistent, out of date, or focused on old definitions of ‘real games’. 

From what we do know, it seems like we should be doing better. We now have six universities and almost every college across Scotland now offering games courses. Despite this we’re not seeing many new startups. Very few games companies appear in the incubators, accelerators, competitions or innovation centres across Scotland. 

Why are we losing so many development studios? If new employers are not coming through then where are our graduates going? Are we really struggling as badly as it seems?

Good questions. Thankfully there is a way forward.

Since 2004 I‘ve run the Scottish Games Network (www.scottishgames.net), which carries news and updates from everyone involved in the games sector. In July I was awarded a ‘Connected Innovator’ grant, as an industry expert, which will enable me to map Scotland’s games sector, in all its weird unknown glory. 

The games industry has never really considered itself part of the whole ’tech sector’, nor really as part of the wider creative industries. As the ground-breaking Logan Review pointed out, we’re all part of a larger, interconnected ecosystem. If we want to build a better, more collaborative digital future, then games and interactive media should be a significant part of that. 

Mapping the industry in Scotland is an important first step. In addition, I’m also lobbying the Scottish government and public sector organisations to support the creation of a videogames industry cluster. 

We are justifiably proud of our videogaming legacy. From Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, to the world’s first games degree course, Scotland’s games industry has a strong cultural heritage. 

To echo the Logan Review, our challenge in a rapidly evolving and disruptive global market is to make Scotland a place where the next tech unicorn is as likely to be a games studio, as a fintech, cyber or data company. 

Wish me luck.

An edited version of this blog ran as an op-ed in The Scotsman on Monday 14th September 2020