ReportUkie
The Economic Impacts of Video Game Technology Spillover: UK and Nordic Economies
1 Nov 202368 pages~87 min full read
In 2021, video game technology spill-overs contributed £1.3 billion in total output and £760 million to UK GDP, while sustaining 9,900 non-gaming jobs.
See it on page 4Spill-over activity from the UK games industry accounts for 13% of the sector's gross value added and 19% of its total employment.
See it on page 19Non-gaming roles supported by game technology—primarily in IT, business services, and energy—command average salaries 25% higher than the UK national mean.
See it on page 22Real-time engines like Unreal and Unity, alongside VR/AR and haptic hardware, are driving productivity and cost reductions in sectors including healthcare, architecture, automotive safety, and energy extraction.
See it on page 14The economic impact of game technology is significant across Western Europe, with the Nordic region recording £190 million in output and £40 million in GDP from these spill-overs.
See it on page 7In the United States, game-technology diffusion was linked to $0.5 billion of software output and roughly 20% of software-job growth during 2016.
See it on page 60The analysis quantifies how video‑game technology generates measurable economic benefits beyond the entertainment sector, arguing that spill‑over effects constitute a significant engine of growth for advanced‑technology economies. By applying the IMPLAN input‑output model to 2021 data, the study estimates that spill‑overs contributed roughly £1.3 billion of total output and £760 million of GDP to the United Kingdom, delivering £380 million of labour income and £250 million of government revenue while sustaining about 9,900 non‑gaming jobs. These positions are concentrated in information‑technology, business services and energy extraction, with average salaries 25 % above the national mean. In the Nordic region, comparable effects amounted to £190 million of output and £40 million of GDP, underscoring the broader relevance across Western Europe.
The research situates these figures within the wider UK games ecosystem, which comprises approximately 2,600 firms and 71,400 jobs across direct, indirect and induced employment. Spill‑over activity accounts for roughly 13 % of the industry’s gross value added and 19 % of its employment, highlighting the sector’s pivotal role in supporting ancillary markets. Sectoral case studies illustrate how real‑time engines (Unreal, Unity), VR/AR headsets and haptic devices are reshaping healthcare, oil and gas, architecture, horticulture, furniture design and automotive safety, delivering faster, lower‑cost visualisation, enhanced training and new revenue streams.
The findings extend to the United States, where about one‑fifth of software‑job growth in 2016 and $0.5 billion of software output are linked to game‑technology diffusion. Collectively, the evidence demonstrates that video‑game innovations act as a cross‑industry catalyst, generating substantial fiscal, employment and productivity gains across multiple high‑value sectors during the 2021‑2022 period.
