Dundee’s gaming sector has helped the UK creative industries economic input hit a record-breaking £8.8 million an hour.
The UK’s Creative Industries, which also includes the film, television and music industries, are now worth £76.9 billion per year to the UK economy.
One of Dundee’s leading game industry figures, chairman of 4J Studios Chris van der Kuyl, believes the city is a key reason why the creative industries are enjoying such success.
Chris, who helped develop versions of Minecraft, the fastest selling and most successful Xbox Live Game in history, said: “This is more recognition of the value that the creative industries bring to the economy.
“Sometimes I think we overlook the gaming industry. We’re bigger than movie industry now, bigger than TV and music as well.
“In Dundee we have both previously created and are currently making some of the world’s top selling games.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=pSQgqCx_rGE%3Frel%3D0
“As recently as last week, the top two games in the PlayStation charts in America were both developed in Scotland, one being Grand Theft Auto 5, the other being the Minecraft console edition.
“That goes to show the level of impact that Dundee and Scotland is having on the world.
“That would be the equivalent of two of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters being made in Scotland.”
In 2013 creative industries saw a growth of almost ten per cent, three times that of the wider UK economy.
The industry accounted for 1.7 million jobs in 2013, 5.6 per cent of UK jobs, with 2015 expected to be another bumper year for UK creative output.
Among the huge number of highly anticipated offerings are the latest Bond film, Spectre, the next instalment of Game Of Thrones, and the conclusion to the Arkham videogame trilogy Batman: Arkham Knight.
Yesterday Mr van der Kuyl gave evidence at an inquiry held by the Scottish Government into the economic impact of the entertainment industry in Scotland.
MSPs spoke to video games developers about the issues facing the sector and tried out some of the technology at the heart of the industry’s success.
Chris stated: “The Government are asking what more can they do to encourage the games industry in Scotland.
“This is a young industry that has really only been around as a professional industry since the 1990s.
“Its growth has been phenomenal up to now plus there is also the rise and rise of mobile phones and tablets, new generations of games consoles selling even more and Samsung announced this week that they were embedding Sony PlayStations inside their televisions.
“These businesses are completely based on talent and nothing but talent.
“Games are everywhere and the talent to develop them is here, in Dundee and in Scotland as a whole.”