UK video games industry levels up in 2016

Cologne, Germany. Today is the first day of the worlds largest gaming event, gamescom. With over 345,000 visitors, 6,000 journalists and hundreds of exhibitors from around the world, Cologne is the place to be over the next four days for anyone who is serious about gaming and the games industry.

As the chart below shows, those making (and playing) video games are becoming an increasingly important part of the economy. A 'productive gamer' may sound like an oxymoron, but in actual fact, the industry they so often passionately drive through their purchases, pre-orders, and in-game microtransactions, contributed 1.25 billion pounds to the UK economy in the year ending March 2016.

These figures seem to be heading in the right direction, too. The number of creative staff employed by UK studios increased by 7.5 percent on 2015 while investment rose by 11.7 percent. The tax revenues heading their way to the treasury also jumped by 11.7 percent to 514 million pounds.