UK Games Growth Package driving “exceptional demand” one year on from launch

The UK government’s £30 million Games Growth Package “is already making an impact” a year on from its launch, according to UK Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray.

“Between now and 2029, it will give some of our most talented game developers the platform to kickstart or accelerate their careers, turning great ideas into real jobs and real growth right across the UK.”

The Games Growth Package was announced as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy and the Creative Industries Sector Plan.

The package allocated £28.5 million through the UK Games Fund to support early-stage developers and studio growth, and committed £1.5 million to the London Games Festival over a three-year period.

Since launch, the UK Games Fund has seen “exceptional demand across all three of its funding tracks.”

These include the Starter Fund, which offers grants of up to £20,000 for new companies; the expanded Prototype Fund, with grants of up to £100,000; and the Content Fund, which provides up to £250,000 to support project completion and studio growth alongside private investment.

“We’ve been delighted to see the high level of demand for our new grant offerings, demonstrating the huge future potential for UK independent games developers to contribute to economic growth,” said UK Games Talent and Finance CIC director Kirsty Gibson.

32 UK games companies have received support from the fund’s International Business Development strand, with a total of £3.2 million awarded in grants of up to £200,000 each for “enhanced export and international activities focused on revenue generation.”

“Twelve months on from the launch of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we are seeing exactly the response the industry needed to make it work,” added UKIE CEO Nick Poole.

“Studios across the UK are using this funding to scale up, invest in new titles and back their own ambitions, and the demand we’ve seen across the UK Games Fund and the UK Global Screen Fund shows an industry ready to grow.”

In May, the BFI’s UK Global Screen Fund received an increased annual budget, which enabled the launch of the Video Games Release funding stream.

This stream offers grants of up to £50,000 to help UK developers cover marketing, promotion, and localisation costs during release campaigns.

This year, the London Games Festival received support from the Games Growth Package for the first time.

The festival featured over 30 events across the city, attracting visitors from 61 countries and more than 8,000 business delegates.

“The festival expanded across both public and professional audiences, re-establishing a large-scale showcase event for new games, attracting international investment, and building a business pipeline back into UK businesses,” said Head of Games London and London Games Festival director Michael French.

“It’ll grow considerably in the next year too, with a move to a central venue for a number of our tentpole events for industry and game fans alike to further establish a major international games showcase here in the UK.”