Games

The UK continues to be a highly attractive location for European businesses to invest – over 700 EU businesses located operations here in 2016/17 – and is home to an increasingly successful games market valued at £5.11bn (€5.73bn), 70% of which is in games software.

Creative industries are growing three times faster than the broader UK economy. The sector currently employs two million people and is supported by a world-class education system, favourable tax relief schemes and a significant domestic market – the sixth largest in the world for digital games, which are played in 7 out of 10 households.

Civic and digital infrastructure in the UK is globally-renowned - international transport is strong and superfast broadband coverage outperforms that of France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Newcastle is leading the way in the UK as a ‘Gigabit City’ with recent investment by Hyperoptic bringing broadband speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps to local businesses and residents. The city is home to the fastest-growing tech cluster in the UK, and the leading location for gaming outside of London; Ubisoft (France), Epic Games (US) and CCP (Iceland) all have operations here.

Key assets in our area include the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Data and PROTO: The Emerging Technology Centre. The city also hosts a vibrant annual calendar of events for games, software and VR industries.