UK games industry employment levels hit five-year high

The UK video game industry is on the rise once again, with 2013 seeing employment, revenues and investment levels roughly equal to those recorded back in 2008. According to a new report from TIGA, the video game sector in the UK contributed GDP of £1.02 billion ($1.7 billion), up from £947 million ($1.6 billion) in 2012, while the number of creative people working in video games was up to 9,896, from 9,224 in 2012. And the number of jobs indirectly supported by video game studios rose to 18,093 in 2013, up from 16,864 year-over-year. The report also notes that annual investment by game studios rose to £458 million ($770.2 million) in 2013, up from £427 million ($718.1 million). TIGA's Richard Wilson says that this growth is due to a number of factors: The explosion of mobile and tablet games has led to many more developers getting involved in that space, while big AAA studios closing down has led to lots of smaller start-ups emerging. TIGA also says that the Games Tax Relief in the UK is spurring people on to try their hand at game development -- although the tax breaks were only approved this March, and have been available since April. Further growth is expected too, according to tax consulting firm Deloitte. For those wondering how TIGA found these figures, the company takes the latest data on development headcount to scale total development expenditure, and then uses Oxford Economics’ calculations to establish estimates of the development industry's GDP.