The UK’s gaming industry shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
A recent report by Games Investor Consulting found that the British gaming market grew by a staggering 11% between 2021 and 2023.
This impressive growth is being fueled by several key factors, making gaming a more mainstream and lucrative industry than ever before.
For those who live in and around London, this industry growth helps to grow and sustain jobs as many of the country’s video game publishers are located in the south east of England.
This growth has not simply come from one area, but is the result of several factors, each helping to drive demand, increase spending, and boost the lifespan of video games.
Diversification helping to reach new audiences
One major driver of growth in the gaming industry is the sheer variety of games and platforms available.
Gone are the days when gaming was relegated to consoles and enjoyed primarily by young men. Today, there’s a game for everyone.
In particular, mobile gaming is booming, with casual titles on smartphones and tablets attracting a massive audience across all demographics but also helping to entice older people and women in greater proportions than ever before.
Additionally, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are slowly gaining traction, offering unique and immersive experiences for enthusiasts.
This diversification ensures that there’s a game to capture almost every player’s interest, helping to create more demand for gaming products and services.
Esports
Esports, or competitive gaming, is another significant contributor to the industry’s growth.
They work like traditional physical sports, with professional gamers competing in tournaments for eye-watering prizes, attracting millions of viewers online and in person.
This growth has even led to the development of esports qualifications, allowing aspiring players to hone their skills and potentially pursue a professional career.
In September 2024, British gamers will be able to enroll onto level 4 and level 5 BTEC qualifications in esports.
The qualifications are focused on the industry as a whole, rather than on becoming a better player.
This is different to educational content created by leading online poker platforms like PokerStars which is designed to help players learn and develop their card-playing skills as they progress from a beginner and become more proficient at poker.
This educational content is often in the form of short guides that are focused on a small topic, such as hand reading, which uses probabilities and deduction to estimate what cards other players could be holding.
Esports not only attracts new players but also creates a dedicated following who actively engage with the industry, boosting revenue through in-game purchases and merchandise sales.
Software as a service model extending the game’s life
The traditional model of buying a game once and playing it until completion is all but dead.
The “software as a service” (SaaS) model that has taken over most of the everyday tools we use, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, is increasingly popular in the gaming industry too.
With this model, players purchase a base game (or get it for free), and then have the option to buy additional content packs, expansions, and updates that get released over time.
This approach keeps players engaged with the game for longer periods, providing a steady stream of revenue for developers and publishers rather than a single upfront burst of cash.
Games like Fortnite and League of Legends offer downloadable content (DLC) months and years after the initial launch, keeping players coming back for more and encouraging them to invest further in the game.
This helps to increase the lifetime value of each player since they’ll spend more over a longer period of time.
Expanding demographics creating more older gamers
Another factor driving the growth of the gaming industry, particularly in the UK, is that there have now been several generations of gamers, with new generations following on behind them.
Several decades ago, while video games were still a novel concept, they were mostly the domain of younger players.
However, as they have aged, these now-middle-aged gamers continue to enjoy the medium just as they did in their 20s.
Today’s young adults will folllow this trend too, helping to even out the demographics of gamers over time, irrespective of the diversification efforts discussed earlier.
