After two years, a thousand data points, and some very sore thumbs, a community-led national action plan for Scotland’s games sector has been unveiled, hitting the start button on a £1 billion plan for the industry.
An industry roadmap developed by the Scottish Games Network, the Level Up Scotland – Games Action Plan is the country’s first unified strategy for gaming, setting out a bid to create the UK’s first “games supercluster” north of the border, and rallying creatives, politicians, and players alike to make it happen.
But why, when Scotland is bursting with established studios, hot indies, and college courses turning out fresh-faced developers, do we need an action plan at all? Isn’t everything ticking along nicely without one?
Scotland’s “Secret Weapon”
In short, no. Researchers estimate that the absence of a unified national vision backed by government has left the Scottish gaming cluster fragmented and volatile, putting it behind similarly placed countries like Finland.
The chilly Nordic state is home to around 270 studios bringing in a turnover of £2.47 billion a year, while Scotland’s 130 firms rake in just £340 million by comparison – far short of the £1‑plus billion they’d expect if performing on a similar scale.
Scotland should not be lagging that far behind, the study argues. The country’s gaming sector already brings in more than double the GVA per head than the Scottish average, making it an under-valued yet high-yield asset, a “secret weapon”, that could deliver huge economic and cultural returns with the right investment and support.
To bridge the divide, the report sets out a phased, low‑risk plan to grow the games ecosystem, building on work already started under the UK‑wide Modern Industrial Strategy and Creative Industries Review, and in line with Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation and Technology Ecosystem Review.
Over phase one, the roadmap calls for the creation of a Scottish Games Growth Catalyst Pilot Fund, backed by £5 million and overseen by a new chief games officer (CGO) who will provide strategic alignment across government and policy.
The fund could hand out prototype grants of up to £50,000 for the creation of new Scottish gaming IP – with a target of 50 new IPs by 2028 – and £100,000 to help work-for-hire studios compete on the global stage.
That support, the report argues, would give Scottish studios the stability they need to de-risk their businesses and self‑fund their own projects – kick-starting a cycle of reinvestment that grows the sector over time.
Speedrunning Growth
But while an influx of cash can help Scotland’s games sector level up, staying at the top of the leaderboard will take ongoing support, and a policy reboot surrounding the skills needed to keep the industry thriving.
Although government figures show that Scotland’s studios have seen employment double from 1,045 to 2,125 since 2015, data from industry body TIGA shows that half of all UK game devs, including Scotland, found it difficult to fill vacancies in 2024, especially in disciplines like art, programming, and design.
To that end, the Scottish roadmap recommends the creation of a new National Games Skills and Education Forum that can serve as a talent pipeline, alongside a new Games Enterprise and Sustainability Service, which would provide expertise around founding and scaling a games business.
The aim is to see at least twenty new studios established in Scotland by 2028, adding more than 5,000 new jobs to the sector over the next four years.
Tying all these objectives together, however, is the report’s big-ticket recommendation – the creation of a National Games Innovation Centre, what would be the “operational core” of Scotland’s games supercluster.
Framed as a blend of Screen Scotland and The Data Lab, the new national body would function as an investment hub, research base, and central coordinator for the games sector, with the report suggesting it could generate almost £16 in GVA for every £1 of public spend.
Gaming’s “Golden Thread”
The report argues that Scotland’s gaming sector is “underdeveloped” compared to the film and TV sectors, yet offers a much wider, cross-sector economic impact.
Estimates suggest that the technology “spillover” from the UK’s £7.63 billion domestic games market has supported nearly 10,000 jobs, produced £760 million in GDP, and delivered £380 million in labour income – effectively generating £1.3 billion in extra economic output.
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Calling games technology the ‘golden thread’ running through our wider economy, the report argues that, with the right backing, Scotland’s industry could tap into that spillover, potentially going far beyond the target of £1 billion in turnover.
The study argues that the tools and technologies forged in games have transformational potential for healthcare, manufacturing, education, data, cyber, fintech, film, energy, all of the key sectors of Scotland’s economy.
“For too long, the Scottish games industry has been our economy’s secret weapon – high performance, globally successful, but all too often missing from the strategic HUD,” said Brian Baglow, director of the Scottish Games Network and author of the action plan.
“This isn’t just a report; it’s a mandate to weave games technology into the heart of Scottish innovation. By hitting ‘start’ on the UK’s first Games Supercluster, we are securing Scotland’s place as a global leader in the creative technology economy.”
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