BELIEF BEATS BLOAT With thousands of games released every year, and the budgets of AAA and III games giving them blanket industry coverage, it can be tough for smaller developers to break through with their titles. But the truth is that great games find their gamers and playability trumps “gloss” every time. There are plenty of examples of big-budget titles that have fallen away, experienced huge delays, or ultimately disappointed players.
If you want evidence that “small” can punch through, you don’t have to look far. Balatro—a single-purchase, elegantly designed, wildly replayable indie game— that has been a standout commercial and cultural success. It launched on PC and console, expanded to mobile, joined Apple Arcade, Microsoft Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, and kept momentum with smart updates and collaborations with other great games. The hit wasn’t driven by spectacle; it was driven by clarity of concept, depth that rewards mastery, and a go-to-market plan that respected where players actually are. That’s the lesson: in a saturated market, the best risk-adjusted returns often come from tightly scoped, distinctive ideas that ship earlier, learn faster, and iterate with their community. As a publisher we see this pattern repeatedly. The smaller, well-crafted project with a strong core loop and clear audience can outperform a mid-sized game that tries to be something for everyone. The market has multiple viable lanes outside AAA and III. Success comes from matching budget and scope to realistic opportunity—and from providing the right kind of help to the right kind of idea.
WHERE POLICY CAN MOVE THE NEEDLE FAST Whilst the games industry is in a great place, there are changes that could see policy better aligned with the way modern games are created. VGEC could better reflect the modern approach to
co-production. If a UK-based publisher is materially funding and producing a project, then qualifying production expenditure for that project should be allowed even when it is sourced internationally. Areas covered could include engineering support, production, QA, and asset development tied to the build could all be claimable. This doesn’t dilute UK value; it increases it by making the UK an attractive base for global production. Another area is the introduction of forward clarity for R&D. Existing standards should be kept high, but companies should have a clear pre-qualification route on well-scoped programmes so they can invest in publishing-relevant tech with confidence. This could include discoverability tooling, porting pipelines or cross-platform optimisation. Right now the administrative burden and retrospective uncertainty reduce the appetite to push harder on toolchains that would
ultimately make UK teams more competitive. Finally, more should be done to champion cross-
border trade. Practical tweaks to reduce withholding-tax friction and streamline payments with key territories would meaningfully improve cash velocity and remove a hidden tax on UK-based firms competing globally. The goal is not to “protect” the UK from the world; it’s to make the UK the easiest place to run a global business.
A VISION FOR THE NEXT DECADE The UK has the talent, track record and global relationships to lead the next chapter of games. Talent is not just the developers and artists across the UK, there are many disciplines that are essential to turning great ideas into global gaming success: production, QA, porting, analytics, marketing and community management. These are growth jobs, with many of them already anchored in the UK. It would be a mistake to focus all our talent development on coding. Yes, the market is crowded, costs are scrutinised, and policy has catching-up to do. But the fundamentals are strong: games keep growing globally, and the UK sits on a deep bench of talent and know-how. The priority now is alignment—policy that recognises games as a borderless business and supports UK companies to collaborate internationally, hire globally, and invest confidently in creation here at home. The rest is on us. Breakthroughs don’t only come from AAA studios and investment; they come from great ideas executed with craft—whether that’s a solo developer with a razor-sharp loop or a mid-size team with a bold twist. If we back the idea, scope tightly, and ship with intent, success follows. So let’s choose self-belief over doomscrolling, creativity over conformity, and momentum over hesitation. Support smarter policy, keep our doors open to the world, and focus relentlessly on making great games. The UK industry is in a good place—and if we play for the win, it gets even better. Let’s back the idea, the people and play for the win.
October/November 2025 MCV/DEVELOP | 41
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