‘We want to see Scotland in world’s top-five for tech hubs’, says Scottish video game chief

It’s a sector which, globally, is worth $200 billion – a figure that is expected to reach $220bn by 2024.

Scotland’s contribution to the industry is well documented, and a new BBC Alba documentary, Trusadh: Geamadh – An Ath Ire, also puts Scotland’s contribution in the spotlight, digging into the history.

Tomorrow represents a step forward, however, with the start of the first-ever Scottish Games Week.

The current value of the games industry to Scotland is £331million – an impressive figure but one which falls short compared to some other countries. Finland, for example, has a games industry worth £2.4bn having pushed tech over the last decade or so.

READ MORE: New BBC Alba documentary set to explore Scottish video game industry

Head of the Scottish Games Network and director of Scottish Games Week, Brian Baglow, says this week is about getting the word out that Scotland is one of the top countries for gaming.

Speaking to the Sunday National, he said: “It’s about showcasing the games sector and community to the rest of the world.

“It’s always struck me that we have such a flourishing community of publishers and educators but we don’t have many homegrown games events of our own of any kind of scale or size.

“People aren’t coming to Scotland to talk about games and I thought that has to change.”

The programme of events is supported by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund, which aims to support organisations and activities working within Scotland’s tech sector.

The week kicks off at the Barclay’s Campus in Glasgow with an event called More Than Games, which will see a range of speakers highlight how important games are to Scotland’s tech industry.

This will be followed on Tuesday with an Education Symposium in Edinburgh, which will bring together academics from across the country.

“Scotland has seven universities producing games graduates but they’ve never sat down together so we need to talk about what we are not doing, how we make things better and tie all these activities together,” said Baglow.

He explains that “the next billion gamers” are all coming through via mobile phones rather than traditional games consoles like PlayStations.

Games can now be accessed right alongside social media and music apps rather than a separate device altogether. That’s not to say traditional consoles don’t still have a place, just rather that gaming on a phone is on the rise.

MJ Deans is presenting a new BBC Alba documentary on the history of the gaming industry

Over half of the $200bn revenue comes from mobile phones with games representing the most popular section of the App Store and Google Play.

Baglow adds that Scotland has two major companies in particular which have found huge success.

Rockstar North, originally founded in Dundee but now based in Edinburgh, is responsible for Grand Theft Auto – one of, if not the, biggest video game franchise of all time. As of August 2022, it’s believed to have sold 170 million copies worldwide. Dundee is also home to 4J Studios which developed the console versions of the beloved Minecraft – often cited as one of the greatest games of all time.

There’s so many others, though, including NoCode in Glasgow which is currently working on a brand-new entry to the legendary horror series Silent Hill and JunkFish in Dundee who also work on horror games such as Monstrum.

Despite so many finding success however, Baglow still feels more can be done to recognise the contribution of the industry to the economy.

Scotland is currently the fourth biggest “games cluster” in the UK behind London, the south-east and north-west of England. Baglow, however, has higher aspirations.

He said: “The bottom line is I think we need to recognise our value more. We want Scotland to be one of the top five hubs in the world for tech.

“We want Edinburgh to be the data capital of Europe. I do think we get kind of lost in the mix and appreciate we have to change that.”

Baglow also thinks Scotland could benefit from games being recognised “beyond their commercial value” and put to use in other areas of life such as education.

One game he believes serves as a “perfect example” of this in practice is the game Island Saver, first developed by Stormcloud Games based in Dundee.

The free-to-play game allows players to pick up litter and earn coins and, as it progresses, they learn about the fundamentals of using a bank account.

“It’s a beautiful game. Stormcloud worked with NatWest to develop it and it’s available for free on multiple platforms,” said Baglow.

“It’s heading for four million downloads and, although it was aimed at people aged 6-13, there’s people who are not that age playing it all over the world.”

Given the global nature of the industry, it’s easy to wonder if those working in Scotland may see it as a starting-off point before heading elsewhere.

However, Baglow doesn’t think that will be an issue.

“I think we have an astonishing community of studios. People coming to work in games here have a huge range of options and more and more talent from games is being used in other areas”, he said.

Baglow continued: “We have a network of global Scots. I certainly don’t think we’re at risk from a brain drain because it’s a global industry.

“People can work from home now so we have studios based in Scotland with team members all across the world.”

The skills put to use and developed in the industry are seen in all walks of life. It’s an industry with can lead to several career paths.

Baglow said: “It can take you into the film or animation sector, you might end up working on galleries in museums or on the digital side of advertising.

“People thought the bubble would burst over lockdown but it hasn’t, we’ve added 600m new gamers.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re playing a massive online role-playing game or Wordle every other day, you’re a gamer.

“People have discovered that games are at our fingertips. There are games out there aimed at absolutely everyone so I’m very optimistic, it’s a wonderful time to be working in the games sector.

“I think in Scotland we just need to recognise that a bit more.”