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Gaming Is Creating New Jobs in the UK
The UK’s gaming industry is arguably the most productive out of the creative industries and is not centred around London, but rather a UK-wide industry with nationwide benefits.
According to a report made by the video gaming sector’s trade body, over half of the UK’s gaming industry is located outside of the South East and London. Moreover, gaming is directly contributing over £1.3 billion to the economy.
The report has revealed that the video gaming industry in the UK is employing over 16,000 professionals. Gaming jobs have notoriously been in demand by avid gamers, designers, software engineers and others, but they are frequently advertised on UK job sites such as JobRapido.
The aforementioned trade body that produced the report and goes by the name of Ukie has argued that the statistics make the gaming industry the most productive compared to the UK’s other creative industries. Each employee is suggested to contribute over £80,000 to the British economy.
A UK-Wide Operation
Regional distributions of those contributions are significantly higher than other creative industries. For example, half of the UK’s film industry is housed in the capital whereas that figure is just 28% for the gaming industry and many of the gaming hubs can be found across the UK in over 20 cities and major towns.
On top of London’s gaming industry, three more hubs in the South East are found near Guildford and Gatwick and Heathrow airports. Furthermore, other clusters have contributed over £60 million to local economies in the previous year, namely Newcastle upon Tyne, Leamington Spa, Manchester, and Edinburgh.
This is crucial because many of the world’s most successful games come from Britain. Rockstar North – a game developer that is celebrated for titles such as Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto – was founded in Scotland and contributed to significant employment in the area. Not to forget major companies in the Midlands. Including the likes of Ubisoft and Codemasters with over 900 employees combined.
Part of the Boris Johnson Plan?
After the Conservative UK Government started winning traditional Labour seats, it was questioned how what is perceived by some as an elitist party would cater to working-class demands. The gaming industry is a point of call for Boris Johnson’s Government to show how the UK can be successful outside of London’s borders.
How to Score a Gaming Job?
The gaming industry requires plenty of talented individuals to maintain the high standards that are recognised the world over. UK game developers need an array of professionals from animators, software specialists, game designers, sound engineers and many more roles to fill. There are even jobs that allow players to test the games and give their feedback on them so they can be improved. Game testers usually have a professional gaming background or are influencers in the industry.
To become an influencer, you will need to provide valuable gaming content to build a following. This can be done with blogs, YouTube channels or on the popular game streaming platform, Twitch – who are continually improving their services.