The UK has one of the largest and most diverse creative industry sectors in the world accounting for 6% of GDP and employing 2.3m people. The UK is home to world renowned businesses in Advertising, Fashion, TV, Film, Design, Architecture and the experience Economy and pulls on the well-known innovative talents found in the UK.

On this page you will find more information about the Games industry, Mobile content development and other investment opportunities.

Games

The UK has the highest number of game development companies and publishers in Europe employing 28,000 people. From Tomb Raider to Harry Potter to Grand Theft Auto, UK-made games are some of the biggest box office sensations in the world, accounting for £1.34 billion in sales. UK independents continue to attract international business and major companies such as Microsoft, Activision, Square Enix, Capcom, Sony, Electronic Arts and Disney, all have UK-based developers.

The UK games industry is clustered around ten regional centres spread right across the UK, each of them dominated by a couple of large studios. Clusters exist in Edinburgh, Dundee, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Guildford, Cambridge, Oxford, London and Brighton.

Hungry early-adopters, a deep talent pool, the fourth largest domestic games market is in the world and a sophisticated distribution network make the UK an effective place to bring new games to market.

Mobile Content

The UK has 16m users of high end Smartphone’s, representing 34% of the population, making the UK the most important market in Europe for Mobile Content. Key facts include:

51% of the UK engage in M-Commerce, spending up to £14.50 on an average transaction

Over 50% of mobile internet browsing is spent on Social Networks, in terms of minutes spent per user

Mobile advertising spend to increase by over 110% from 2009 by the end of 2011 and at present approximately 80% of that spend is in app.

The UK has traditional strengths in the Video, Music and Games industries, which are the dominant content on Mobile Devices. Over 50% of the apps in the UK are games and two thirds of games developers are self-publishing. Growth in the sector is coming from social and mobile games companies. There is an opportunity for overseas technology companies to find appropriate content partners in the mobile space in the UK.

The key change in the mobile eco-system in the UK has been the simplification of the value chain, enabling content creators improved access and payment transparency when it comes to reaching the end user.

Opportunities

The growth of the UK’s mobile market, with an increase in the use of the Smartphone driving the growth of social platforms and content, presents more opportunities for mobile social networks.

With the 2012 Olympics acting as a catalyst, the planned investment in UK internet infrastructure will support the growth of mobile media and content online.

Mobile payment is strong in the UK with companies like Bango and Waspit developing new mechanisms to suit all mobile users.