The Sustainable Future of Scotland's Developers

In a recent article published by TIGA, statistics show an improvement to the UK's gaming sector for the year of 2012. As the article suggests (which you can read here), the number of employees, studios and earnings rose considerably well for a sector that wasn't included in the 2010 Economic Contribution Study reports. Almost half of new companies were formed in Scotland, and continually grow today with competitions such as Dare To Be Digital and Samsung's Student Developer's Challenge. These figures are promising, and definitely suggest a bright future for the industry that has delivered so much in the past (Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown, to name but a few). The question that looms over my mind is this: how do we make developing teams more sustainable?


Last week, you may remember I wrote an article about Game In Scotland 2013. In an event filled with prospering teams - large in numbers - and promise of great games and software in the not-too-distant future, this question of sustainability was discussed during the closing stages of the event:

"How can Scotland turn growth into sustainability?"

Richard Wilson, the CEO of TIGA, stated in the previously-linked article that "21 per cent of start-ups in 2010-12 have already gone under", showing that as much as Scotland's gaming community is expanding, there's the harsh business realisation that current success and growth doesn't necessarily equate to future sustainability.

With most - if not all - of developers in Scotland working on mobile and browser-based platforms, the market demands increases exponentially, with competitors, appeal and saturation of the marketplace taken into consideration. We are familiar with the local developments of studios in Scotland thanks largely to Brian Baglow and the Scottish Games Network. But what is the next step for Scotland's developers in this ever-growing industry?

I doubt I can provide the conclusive answer to this statement presently. However, what I can suggest is that the growth in Scotland's community will continue if the current market doesn't take a radical turn in the near future. With doubts over whether the next-generation of consoles will take a hold of consumers, we are in a strong position in what will undoubtedly be a crucial year for Scotland and the gaming sector.

Andrew
Managing Director