UK reports and market data
Documents
How to Measure the Impact of Overseas Mergers & Acquisitions on the UK Video Games Industry
The UK video games industry has experienced a significant surge in overseas mergers and acquisitions between 1993 and 2022, with activity peaking sharply from 2018 to 2021.
- Overseas M&A activity in the UK video games industry surged significantly between 1993 and 2022, with a distinct peak in transaction volume occurring between 2018 and 2021.
- US-based entities are the primary drivers of UK studio acquisitions, motivated by the strategic acquisition of established intellectual property and experienced development talent.
- Measuring the impact of these acquisitions is hindered by structural data limitations, as standard industry classification codes are unreliable and many target firms are private, rendering traditional share-price event studies unfeasible.
Casual Mobile Gaming in H1 2023
The mobile gaming market in Tier-1 Western countries—comprising Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US—experienced significant shifts during the first half of 2023.
- The casual mobile gaming market in Tier-1 Western countries is experiencing increased saturation, leading to a notable decline in success rates for new releases across most categories.
- The Merge-2 subgenre saw a 60% increase in monthly revenue during H1 2023, though the market has become inaccessible to new entrants with no new titles achieving significant success.
- The Idle RPG sector grew by approximately 20% in monthly revenue in H1 2023, bolstered primarily by successful new releases from South Korean developers.
Helping clients imagine more for their titles | Liz Corless from Keywords Studios
Keywords Studios functions as a global, end-to-end service provider for the video game and entertainment industries.
- Keywords Studios operates as an end-to-end service provider for the gaming industry, employing over 10,000 people across 70 studios and supporting a majority of the top 25 global gaming firms.
- The company’s service model is divided into three pillars: 'Create' (art and development), 'Globalize' (QA and localization), and 'Engage' (marketing and community management).
- The service model allows developers to convert fixed internal costs into variable costs, providing the agility to scale team sizes up or down based on specific project requirements.
Panel: Location, Location, Location: Why Is “Where” You set Your Studio up, Still Important
British Columbia has established itself as a premier global hub for game development, defined by a mature ecosystem that prioritizes collaborative growth over aggressive competition.
- British Columbia’s game development ecosystem thrives on a collaborative model that prioritizes industry-wide growth and professional networking over aggressive competition.
- Physical studio location remains a critical driver for effective onboarding, creative collaboration, and talent retention, despite the industry-wide shift toward remote and hybrid work models.
- The region sustains long-term innovation through a cycle where experienced professionals are nurtured and eventually launch their own independent ventures within the local market.
AI Rules At PGC London 2023, Big Fish Games’ Daniel Helmhold On Epic Branding For Every Budget
The mobile gaming industry is currently undergoing a significant transformation driven by the dual pressures of technological advancement and shifting market dynamics.
- The mobile gaming industry is shifting toward AI integration to democratize production and streamline workflows, allowing smaller studios to compete more effectively with larger entities.
- Privacy regulations like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency have created a persistent discovery crisis, significantly inflating user acquisition costs and forcing a move away from traditional growth strategies.
- Developers are increasingly adopting games-as-a-service models to prioritize long-term sustainability, focusing on community building and live operations to extend the lifecycle of titles.
Keynote: Workplace Connection & Community.
This presentation outlines strategies for fostering workplace connection and community within the gaming industry, specifically drawing on the experiences of Product Madness.
- Product Madness maintains organizational culture during rapid growth and remote work by focusing on five pillars: storytelling, common language, symbolism, rituals, and cultural ambassadors.
- The company established five core guiding principles to create a common language that bridges the gap between global studios and remote employees.
- To foster a unified identity, the organization implemented visual symbols including a redesigned company logo and branded learning materials.
Mobile Games: State of the Market & Playtime Q3 2023
The global mobile gaming market faced a contraction in total installs during the third quarter of 2023, reflecting a broader cooling trend in user acquisition.
- iOS remains the dominant platform for mobile gaming revenue, accounting for 56.01% of the total global share compared to 43.99% for Android.
- The United States and Japan are the leading revenue generators among major markets, contributing $2.92 billion and $2.03 billion respectively, with the six analyzed countries accounting for 59% of global gaming revenue.
- South Korea experienced the highest growth in game installs at 32% compared to Q3 2022, while the United States and France saw declines of 5% and 0.7%, respectively.
Creative Industries in the UK Report
The United Kingdom’s entertainment market reached a historic peak of £11.1 billion in 2022, representing a 6.9% year-on-year increase and nearly doubling its total value since 2015.
- The UK entertainment market reached a record £11.1 billion in 2022, a 6.9% year-on-year increase that nearly doubles its 2015 valuation.
- Digital services now dominate the landscape with a 91% market share across video, music, and gaming sectors.
- The video games sector is the largest segment at £4.66 billion, with digital software sales—driven by mobile and console DLC—accounting for 90% of that total.
UK Games Jobs Summary: November 2022
The United Kingdom games industry experienced a notable contraction in recruitment activity during November 2022, continuing a downward trend observed throughout the second half of the year.
- UK games industry recruitment contracted significantly in November 2022, resulting in over 500 fewer open vacancies compared to June 2022.
- Mobile studios experienced the highest proportional reduction in job postings, largely driven by the completion or cancellation of roles following corporate mergers.
- Despite the broader market decline, the industry added over 600 new job postings during the month, and the total number of tracked studios grew by eight companies.
UK Games Industry Census 2022: Understanding Diversity in the UK Games Industry Workforce
The UK games industry workforce is characterized by a highly educated, predominantly white, and relatively young demographic that remains largely consistent with findings from 2020.
- The UK games industry workforce is highly educated, with 82% of professionals holding at least an undergraduate degree, yet it remains predominantly white and drawn from professional or managerial socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Workplace culture is characterized by a significant 'crunch' culture, as two-thirds of employees report working weeks exceeding 40 hours during peak periods.
- Rates of anxiety and depression in the industry significantly outpace those of the general UK population, with particularly elevated levels reported among LGBTQ+, non-binary, and trans employees.
How to Break Through the Noise: Reasons You Really Need to Start Automating Today!
The mobile gaming industry has experienced significant growth over the last 15 years, reaching a valuation of approximately $165 billion by 2020.
- The mobile gaming market is projected to grow from a $165 billion valuation in 2020 to $220 billion by 2023.
- Marketing professionals currently spend 80% of their time on manual data management, which prevents strategic optimization and leads to paralyzed decision-making.
- Automation platforms address data fragmentation by centralizing metrics across advertising partners, enabling real-time optimization of creative testing, budget allocation, bidding, and audience targeting.
Panel: How Can We Create Authentic & Engaging Ads?
Mobile gaming advertising is undergoing a critical transition away from deceptive, high-frequency tactics toward strategies rooted in authenticity and user-centric design.
- Mobile gaming advertising is shifting away from deceptive clickbait toward authentic creative content that accurately reflects the actual gameplay experience to improve long-term retention.
- Developers are increasingly prioritizing opt-in engagement formats, such as interactive playables and rewarded videos, to replace forced, intrusive ad interruptions.
- Synthetic audio ads and sonic branding are emerging as effective, non-disruptive alternatives that maintain the game's atmosphere while ensuring high brand memorability.