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Video games

Take your gaming career to the next level in Scotland. We’ve been leading gaming innovation for over 25 years, including developing the world’s biggest entertainment franchise of all time, Grand Theft Auto opens in a new window .

Benefits of the gaming sector in Scotland

  • A skilled workforce

    Join the 90,000 people currently employed in Scotland's creative industries.

  • A thriving sector

    Video games help to generate £4.6 billion for the Scottish economy each year.

  • Futureproof your skills

    Study at the UK's first centre for excellence in Computer Games Education at Abertay University.

As one of the largest centres of games development in the UK, we offer a connected culture of design, creativity and innovation. Close collaboration between business, government and academic institutions, creates unique opportunities to work at the cutting-edge of game development, both in Scotland and with our partners abroad. 

Today, 74,000 people work in digital technology roles across Scotland. Join a booming industry that includes 1500 developers and another 3000 people working in a range of roles closely related to the sector.

Your skills are in demand

Did you know Scotland is the fourth-largest games cluster in the UK? Between April 2020 and December 2021, the sector grew 26%, that's more growth than the rest of the UK.

Scotland’s creative industries currently employ 90,000 people. As part of this sector, video games helps to generate £4.6 billion for the Scottish economy each year. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to do game-changing work. Benefit from innovative partnerships that draw on world-leading research and expertise to develop, design and deploy new processes and technologies.

If you’ve got the skills, we’ve got the opportunities. In Scotland, you can work in a wide range of roles, such as artists, animators, games designers, software developers, programmers and systems engineers. 

There are also new opportunities in gamification in Scotland’s growing film and TV sector, particularly when it comes to virtual production. You can also develop in-demand expertise in scripting, production and project management. There’s room to explore wider areas of work, too, including IT, human resources, security and finance.

Choose your specialism

When you work in Scotland, you also have the flexibility to choose to specialise or work across a variety of exciting areas, such as:

  • video game innovation
  • data and artificial intelligence
  • virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)
  • speech graphics
  • gamification in healthcare
  • education technology (EdTech)
  • micro displays for VR

In Scotland, we’re driving innovation in educational gaming, enabling you to use your skills to pioneer progressive new ways of working. For example, projects like Robotical opens in a new window uses Marty the Robot to teach electronics, robotics, coding and more, and SkoogMusic opens in a new window ’s assistive technology brings coding and music to life for children, parents and teachers. 

Find the latest roles in Scotland's gaming sector

We’re constantly innovating in the gaming sector, so whatever your passion, and however niche your expertise, you’ll find a home for it in Scotland.

Find jobs in the video games sector on LinkedIn  opens in a new window  

How Scotland supports the gaming sector

Our connected infrastructure, backed by a supportive government and public sector, make it easy to advance your career, experiment and explore new ways of working.

More than £661 million is being invested to help make Edinburgh the ‘Data Capital of Europe’. Scotland’s 10-year Data Driven Innovation programme is working with private and public sector partners to make Edinburgh, along with the south-east of Scotland, the location of choice for data science. 

This steady flow of investment will benefit the entire country, creating new opportunities to work in interesting areas. 

When you work in Scotland, there’s plenty of professional and industry body support for you to access, including:

We’re also home to ScotlandIS opens in a new window , which is the digital technology trade body and the UK’s only accredited organisation of its type.

Scotland’s outstanding record of industry and academia engagement creates an innovative tech hub with a collaborative spirit, enabling you to up your expertise and connect with other talented, skilled people. 

Gaming employers in Scotland

Scotland’s world-class talent base has attracted global studios and helped to build a dynamic cluster of home-grown developers and innovators.

Companies in the sector include:

Rockstar North opens in a new window and Rockstar Dundee, subsidiaries of New York-based Rockstar Games, are publishers of titles including Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.

The North Carolina-based developer Epic Games opens in a new window operates Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games, and also develops the real-time 3D creation tool, Unreal Engine opens in a new window .

4J Studios opens in a new window develops games including the console version of Minecraft opens in a new window , one of the best-selling video games of all time, from Sweden’s Mojang Studios opens in a new window . 

Axis Studios opens in a new window is an animation and visual effects specialist that creates content for global games, film and TV clients including Universal Studios, the BBC and Netflix.

YoYo Games runs one of the world’s most popular 2D game development engines, GameMaker opens in a new window , and was recently acquired by Norwegian software company Opera.

ChilliConnect opens in a new window and Unity Gaming Services opens in a new window – part of San Francisco-based Unity Technologies, excel at developing live ops platforms, monetising and analytics to personalise games.

Outplay Entertainment opens in a new window is one of the UK’s largest independent mobile games developers.

Hyper Luminal Games opens in a new window is the independent games developer behind games titles including Big Crown: Showdown.

Stormcloud Games opens in a new window is an award-winning games studio that creates licensed and original games for mobile, console and PC.

Tag Games opens in a new window is a mobile games developer that specialises in free-to-play and premium mobile game development for iOS and Android.

Cobra Mobile opens in a new window is an international games developer and publisher and creator of hit titles including Towers of Everland, iBomber and Red's Kingdom.

No Code opens in a new window is a BAFTA-award-winning entertainment development studio specialising in storytelling, atmosphere and game design.

Konglomerate Games opens in a new window has designed an innovative series of games with Microsoft to help children with cystic fibrosis complete physiotherapy exercises.

Robotical opens in a new window uses Marty the robot to teach electronics, robotics, coding and more to children.

Skoogmusic opens in a new window is a developer of music-based assistive technology that brings coding and music to life for children, parents and teachers.

Forth Dimension Displays opens in a new window designs and manufactures high-resolution near-to-eye microdisplays for military, medical and virtual reality imagers.

Krotos opens in a new window is a creator of sound design software used by Hollywood and AAA game titles including Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, the Lion King, Avengers, Captain Marvel and Star Trek.

Gaming at a glance

Our reputation for advancement is world-renowned. From artificial intelligence to mobile gaming, data analytics to animation, and more, Scotland is the place to create and innovate. 

So, it’s no surprise we attract global powerhouses like Epic Games opens in a new window (Fortnite and real-time 3D creation tool, Unreal Engine), Scopely opens in a new window and Unity Technology opens in a new window . We are also home to innovators like Rockstar North opens in a new window and Rockstar Dundee (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption) and Build A Rocket Boy opens in a new window . These two companies employ around 66-75% of developers in Scotland. 4J Studios opens in a new window (the console version of Minecraft) and Axis Studios opens in a new window (animation and visual effects) are home-grown and thriving in Scotland too.

Our well-connected, creative, and ground-breaking gaming cluster gives you access to numerous networks and projects such as:

Scotland’s gaming industry enjoys a steady flow of investment . There’s funding dedicated to projects such as £60 million for developing a 4000-seat esports arena for competitive video gaming in Dundee, and £94 million invested in Edinburgh-based games developer, Build A Rocket Boy, to support development of open-world game Everywhere. 

Future-proofing your skills is easy in Scotland. We’re home to 19 universities and educational institutions, including the UK’s first centre for excellence in Computer Games Education at Abertay University, a founding partner of Sony’s PlayStation First programme. Abertay is also the number-one university in Europe for video games degrees for the last nine years, and ranked in the world’s top 10 universities for postgraduate video games education. 

Scotland’s multiple networks and projects are another great way to stay in-the-know about latest developments. Our full calendar includes tech meetups, hackathons and other events across the country.

Advanced research and development

Our culture of research, innovation and creativity fosters collaboration, so you can deepen your knowledge and gain hands-on expertise. 

By choosing to work in Scotland, you'll join a connected community pushing boundaries. You'll also gain access to the latest technology and research and development (R&D) through organisations and initiatives like:

Quality of life

Scotland has lots to offer outside of work. 
 
Wherever you decide to work in Scotland, you’ll discover welcoming communities, rich history and vibrant culture. Enjoy shorter commutes, world-class education, free healthcare, and plenty of green space on your doorstep. 

Building a career in Scotland comes at a lower cost of living than many other major locations.  You’ll benefit from flexibility for hybrid and remote working while being fully supported by reliable digital connectivity. 

As one of the best-connected places in Europe, Scotland has six airports with daily direct flights to 150 destinations worldwide. We also have fast and frequent rail links to all parts of the UK. 

Moving to Scotland

We welcome people from around the world to build exceptional careers across Scotland. 

Learn more about moving to Scotland on Scotland.org opens in a new window