Key insights
7 slides
Key number
Dutch games industry employed 4,291 people by the end of 2023.
Employment decreased by 3% per year between 2021 and 2023. Revenue increased by an average annual rate of 10.5% to €763 million.
Page 18 of the report4,291
Dutch games industry employees by the end of 2023
- decline compared to 2021
- 269
- average annual revenue growth
- 10.5%
Regional hub
Greater Amsterdam offered nearly 1,800 jobs by the end of 2023.
The Greater Amsterdam urban region remained the primary hub for the Dutch games industry. It continued to grow employment between 2021 and 2023 despite an overall industry decline.
Page 25 of the reportNETHERLANDS, OTHER652
GREATER AMSTERDAM1,790
THE HAGUE URBAN AREA282
DELFT AND WESTLAND157
UTRECHT579
GREATER ROTTERDAM462
WESTERN NORTH-BRABANT139
SOUTHEAST NORTH-BRABANT230
Company difficulties
Several notable Dutch game companies faced difficulties in 2023-2024.
Sony-owned Guerrilla Games reportedly laid off 10% of its staff due to worldwide reorganization.
Gender share
Female workers reached 23.2% of the Dutch games industry.
The percentage of female workers in the Dutch games industry is rising. It is aligning with broader European and North American industry averages.
Education supply
There are 41 game education programs in the Netherlands.
The number is similar to 2022, primarily focusing on programming or game art. A majority of courses had around 40% of students stating they will never use AI for finished assets.
Page 12 of the report| Category | Bachelor & Master programs | Minors, courses | Total nr. of programs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 35 | 9 | 44 |
| 2015 | 44 | 22 | 66 |
| 2018 | 44 | 22 | 66 |
| 2022 | 28 | 13 | 41 |
| 2024 | 32 | 10 | 42 |
Applied games outlook
Applied games outlook is optimistic due to growing acceptance.
Growing acceptance of immersive technologies and increased use of gaming methods support the outlook. These companies face rising competition from non-gaming companies in gamified e-learning and VR/XR applications.
AI adoption
Applied games studios are adopting generative AI faster.
They are using or testing it for localization, dialogue, training content, and audio. Entertainment studios are more hesitant due to potential player backlash.
Page 64 of the reportCODE: DURING PRODUCTION, IN-GAME48
CODE: PROTOTYPING, NOT-INGAME46
WRITING: CONCEPT, NOT IN-GAME44
ART: CONCEPT, NOT IN-GAME43
GAME DESIGN: IN ANY FORM42
LOCALIZATION: TRANSLATION35
MARKETING: CONCEPTS, NOT PUBLISHED31
MARKETING MATERIALS: TEXTS, ART, ETC.30
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Summary
AUTHORS SPECIAL THANKS TO Manuel Kerssemakers (Abbey Christel van Grinsven APPLIED Games) Arjan Terpstra Bowie Derwort (Game Tailors) Laurens Rutten (CoolGames Matthijs Dierckx Michaël Bas (&ranj) & Dutch Games Association) Roger ter Heide (Improvive) Tuur Hendrikx (Sonic Picnic) RESEARCH CHAPTER 1 ...
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