Develop:Brighton showed the UK games industry is done with hand-wringing and is determined to save itself | Opinion

I got a feeling of déjà vu at Develop:Brighton this year, where once again it was meltingly hot, and once again the conference was coming hard on the heels of sweeping cuts at Microsoft. Although this time around the weather was even hotter, and the cuts were even deeper, with around 20% of the Xbox division being hacked away.

Last year, I wrote that Develop’s sunny exterior hid bleak thoughts, as the industry reeled from the shocks inflicted over the past few years. This year, there were still plenty of gloomy conversations about the state of the industry and the endless news of layoffs, but the tone was different. The shock has morphed into acceptance. There’s a collective realisation that we can no longer go back to the old ways of doing things, and that instead the UK industry has to find ways to adapt to the new normal.

The talk in corridors and parties was of how UK studios can ensure resilience and sustainability in an age where funding is more scarce and the AAA blockbuster engine is threatening to implode (or has already, depending on who you ask). The solution offered by many was closer collaboration. In an age of insecurity, studios are drawing together for safety. It’s dangerous to go alone.

The most obvious example of this is the rise of regional hubs, networks, and communities. Some are already well established, like Game Republic, but new ones are emerging, like the Manchester Games Network and Peterborough’s People in Games. Scottish Games Network founder Brian Baglow was at Develop with a talk encouraging companies to look beyond gaming to secure supplementary funding and opportunities, applying their development skills to areas like health care or heritage that require interactive expertise.

Some conference attendees were even floating the idea of a kind of “hub of hubs” – a way to connect regional networks in order to share information and skills.

At the inaugural Specialist XDEV get-together (a side event hosted by Tanglewood Games, PitStop Productions, and Inferno Studios), collaboration was high on the conversation agenda. There was talk of studios with different specialisations – audio, engine support, and so on – forming an alliance to offer a one-stop shop for clients. Something like this would obviously take a lot of work and negotiation, but it seems the will is there. More generally, it feels like the UK industry is done with hand-wringing and is determined to save itself. Companies know they will have to look to each other to do that, rather than vainly hoping things will improve or waiting for help to arrive from elsewhere.

The logical next step might be the further rise of studio collectives, something we’ve seen elsewhere in Europe with groups like Isle of Strays and Nova Assembly. Kepler Interactive, meanwhile, is co-run by a group of independent studios that includes Clair Obscur maker Sandfall Interactive. The benefits of banding together are clear: studios can share in the profits of hits, while blunting the sting of misses, but the companies retain their all-important independence. That’s something to be cherished at a time when corporate owners seem all too keen to make cuts.

The other big topic at Develop was funding, and there are tiny signs of optimism on this front. For example, venture capital firms like Griffin and Vgames have established project financing funds that give money directly to indie developers rather than taking an equity stake.

But publishers and investors are generally still reluctant to provide funding until a game is relatively deep into development. That leaves the question of how developers are meant to get new projects to the demo stage – especially if their previous game flopped and back catalogue sales are minimal or non-existent.

There was some good news last summer with the announcement that the UK government is providing £30 million over three years as part of its Games Growth Package, with a portion of that money going to the UK Games Fund to provide prototype grants. But other countries are even more generous on this front. Earlier this year, GamesIndustry.biz spoke to the developer of Imprinted, Filippo Beck Peccoz, who said the majority of funding for his game came from the state of Bavaria, and that the game wouldn’t have been possible without that support. Germany announced in January that it would fund its games industry to the tune of €125 million in 2026.

Filling that funding gap for prototypes remains one of the biggest challenges facing the UK industry. Mike Bithell, head of Bithell Games, spelled it out when speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at Develop: “That is the current problem, especially for smaller indies – getting the funding that gets you to the point where the publisher is convinced enough that you’re a sure thing that they’ll bother investing in you, because they are not taking the risks they were even a few years ago.”

That prototype funding will have to come from somewhere for UK developers to continue to produce innovative new games. But who is going to step up and take the risk?