June 17, 2019

According to TIGA’s research, the overall studio population grew from 768 in November 2017 to 812 in November 2018. It also shows that in the year to November 2018:

• there was a surge in start-ups: there were 126 games start-ups or 10.5 start-ups per month (up from 6.15 start-ups per month in the period ending November 2017);
• there was a spate in mortality: 134 games companies (97 developers and 28 service companies) closed down. On an average monthly basis this represents 11.2 companies exiting the industry per month (up from 109 closures, or 5.5 per month, in the period ending November 2017);
• there was a swell in companies with zero full time employees: the number of zero full time employee studios in the UK has increased during the period from 105 to 120. This suggests that an increased number of studios have contracted their operations down to near dormant status in the last year;
• there was a spike in the studio population: studio numbers grew from 768 in November 2017 to 812 in November 2018; and
• studios continue to struggle to scale up: the vast majority of games studios in the UK are micro-firms. 66% of studios employ four or fewer full-time staff, yet micro-firms employ less than 6.5% of the UK’s development workforce. Conversely, the largest 7% of studios employ over 69% of the UK’s development workforce.

To read TIGA’s press release in full and to access the research, click here.