AROUND BRITAIN

DID YOU KNOW? C

SOME 13 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S 100 MOST PROFITABLE GAMES DEVELOPMENT STUDIOS ARE BASED IN THE UK

A

THE UK HAS THE FIFTH-LARGEST GAMES DEVELOPMENT SECTOR GLOBALLY IN TERMS OF REVENUE AND THE LARGEST IN EUROPE

B

UK GAMES COMPANIES CONTRIBUTE SOME £1BN TO NATIONAL GDP

Abertay in Dundee, which offered the world’s fi rst-ever computer games-related degree course. Other acclaimed centres of excellence

include universities in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the University of the West of Scotland, whose extensive range of cutting-edge games-focused facilities includes the PlayStation Games Development Laboratory. Paul Durrant, director of business

development at the University of Abertay, says: “Abertay created the world’s fi rst degree in Computer Games Technology in 1997, working with the games industry to deliver talented graduates who are ready to step straight into companies and be productive from day one. “That link to how businesses operate is crucial – our students work across

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disciplines like programming, audio and art, teaching them the personal and professional skills needed to be a productive employee or entrepreneur in the games industry. “Today, Abertay attracts students

from all over the world and is at the heart of the Dundee games cluster. This has recently seen a rush of new smaller studios forming to create games for an entirely new audience on social networks and mobile devices. “We also regularly host visits from

companies looking at this exciting, emerging market. Examples include the hugely successful Hare brothers, who moved from California to Dundee to set up Outplay Entertainment, their new mobile and social games company, because of the exceptionally talented graduates coming out of Abertay.”

PRESS PLAY The Scottish video games sector’s long- term future looks promising thanks to a recently launched Prototype Fund, run by the University of Abertay. This £5m funding scheme, backed by

the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the European Regional Development Fund, provides sizeable grants for entrepreneurs or small companies (based anywhere in the UK) that are developing their own games or other forms of interactive digital content, creating 30 new businesses and 400 new jobs in the process. “Our Prototype Fund is helping to

support a growing opportunity in the Scottish games cluster, by investing in new companies and new intellectual property,” explains Durrant. “We’ve provided grants of up to £25,000 to