Games and animation

The games and animation sector in Scotland

Scotland is ranked third in Europe’s top 50 games developer locations – quite a feat for such a small country.

Scotland has consistently produced world-famous successful titles such as the classic Lemmings, BAFTA-Award winning Championship Manager 5 and the notorious Grand Theft Auto, to name but a few.

This is down to Scotland’s strong community of developers. Over 80 games studios are based in Scotland, mainly around Dundee. There's a strong and ever-growing cluster of creative talent in and around the area as well as emerging from Scotland’s universities annually.

Today, games companies in Scotland are keeping to the forefront of the industry by creating cross-platform content. For example, Dundee’s Dynamo Games produced award-winning Soccer Tycoon for Facebook in 2010 and followed it up with Championship Manager 2011 – a mobile game which has been nominated for Best Sports Game by the International Mobile Gaming Awards 2011.

Scotland’s hub of games developers

An excellent games development infrastructure is centered around the University of Abertay, Dundee, which was the world’s first university to offer a degree in Computer Games Development.

Dundee has proven to be a central hub of Scotland’s games community - in Tayside alone the creative industries and digital media sector employs 2,300 staff and boasts a combined turnover of over £100 million.

There is a growing hive of young, talented, creative people based in Scotland. The number of games development companies is growing and their successes are getting better everyday.

Scotland is a cost competitive location with a lower cost base, especially compared to “hot spots” such as London, New York and LA. This gives value for money and savings for potential investors.