Tight-knit community


A significant amount of Scotland’s success in the games industry can be put down to the community approach adopted by both its companies and higher education facilities. Dundee is widely considered the gaming


capital of Scotland, with the city’s University of Abertay being the first in the country to offer a video games related qualification. And just one of many companies to have


benefited from a partnership approach with Abertay is Dundee-based Proper Games Ltd, now in its sixth year of business – the company behind the award-winning iPhone puzzle game, Yo Deshi.


“The link between academia and private


businesses in the games sector is both vital and vibrant, particularly in and around Dundee,” explained CEO, Paddy Sinclair. “We’re fortunate to have the University of


lopment


entertainment can be attributed to the creative cluster centered on the city of Dundee. In Scotland, more than 50 companies


are already operating in the gaming software sector, such as Denki, Codeplay and Rockstar North. The Association for UK Interactive


Entertainment (UKIE) states that Scotland as a whole is home to nearly 25 per cent of UK video games companies. There are around 19,000 jobs in


the computer games and software industries themselves, plus a similar number of software professionals working in other industries, such as financial services.


Indeed, the skills required


to develop games are often valued in producing user- friendly software for industry. A key element of


Scotland’s success in attracting some of the sector’s world leaders in technology development has been the skills base of the Scottish workforce. Nonetheless, due to the fast growth of the industry, there are always opportunities for skilled professionals to come to Scotland.


Abertay on our doorstep here and the quality of graduates from the games courses has been exceptional, in no small part due to the university’s policy of engagement with the local games firms. “It’s a common complaint in


the industry at large, that university games courses don’t adequately prepare students for the industry and that’s really down to lack of engagement between education and industry. I think we’ve shown in Dundee that this shouldn’t be the case. “As it is, we’re


dynamic and trying new things. We don’t have the ‘them and us’ and ‘our studio against the world’ approach. “We all talk, socialise and


collaborate and, to the greater extent, we are not competitors. “We have more goals in


common than are in conflict and it lets us get on with doing what we do best. “And all of this within


the fantastic history, natural beauty and general awesomeness of Scotland. What’s there not to like?”


13


WORK


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