2023 Annual Review

1518 Studios •
1minus1 • 22cans • 39
Pictures • 3dnative • 4J Studios • 505
Games • A Brave Plan • Aardman Animations Ltd •
Aardvark Swift Recruitment • Abertay University • Absolutely
Games • Access Creative College • Access Sports • Actioncy • Activision
Blizzard UK • Acumed Consulting • ADVNCR • Africa Games Week • AIME – Association
for Interactive Media & Entertainment • Akur Capital • Alan Boswell • Alfred London • All Brandz •
Alliotts LLP • Altered Gene Studios • Alzheimer’s Research UK • Amazon (AWS) • Amiqus • AMV BBDO •
Ansible PR & Communications • Ant Workshop • Antstream • Aqua Blugames • Arrogant Pixel • Association for Continuing
Education in Esports (ACES) • Astrid Entertainment • Atomhawk Design • Atomic Entertainment • Audiomob • Auk Play Limited •
Auroch Digital • Autistica • Avalanche Studios Group • Azoomee • Ballistic Moon LTD • Bandai Namco Entertainment UK • Barclays UK Ventures •
Barog Game Labs • Bastion • BDO UK LLP • Beijing CrazySports Industry Management • Berwick Partners • BetaJester Ltd • BGI • Bidstack • Big Games
Machine • Billy Goat Entertainment Ltd • Binary Spiders LTD • bitmap bureau Ltd • Biz Media • Blazing Griffin • Blicx • Blink Games • Blockborn • Born Ready Games •
Bossa Studios • Branching Narrative Ltd • Brand Culture • Brightrock Games • Brilliant Skies Ltd • British Chamber of Commerce Korea • British esports Federation • Brown
Betty • Brunel University London • Build a Rocket Boy • Bulkhead Interactive • Bungie • Buzz Capital • Byte Dance • Cambridge Game Creators Network • Campaign Against
Living Miserably • Canterbury Christ Church University • canVERSE (Adventure Planet Ltd) • Cape Guy • Cardboard Sword • Casual Games Association • CCP Games • CE
Europe (Capcom) • Centresoft • CG Hero • Changing Day • Chapter One • Charles Russell Speechlys LLP (London) • Checkstep • Cheetah Mobile • Cherry Pop Games • Chilled
Mouse • ChilliConnect • China Britain Business Council • Climax Studios • Cloud Imperium Games • Coatsink • Code Kingdoms • Codemasters • Codewizards •
CommerceCentric t/a The Game Marketer • Companion Group • Connor Broadley Ltd. • Contact Sales • Cooperative Innovations Ltd • Cosmic Key • COUSIN Media Group Limited
• Coutts • Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust • Crayfish • Creative Assembly • CreeperHost Ltd • Criterion Games • Cubic Motion • Curve Games • D3T • Dakko Dakko •
Darbotron • Dead Good Media • Dell • deltaDNA • Digimans • Dimoso • Disobey • Diva Agency • Dlala Studios • DNA: Digital Out-of-Home Interactive Entertainment •
DOLPHRAGON • Double Eleven • Dovetail Games • DPS Games • DR Studios • Draw & Code • Dream Beaver Studios • Dream Harvest • Dreamnauts Studios • Drest • East2West
• Eaton Smith • Ediedo • Eebz • Efren Studios • Electronic Arts (EA Swiss Sarl) • Endpoint esports ltd • Epic Games UK • epic.lan • Escape Technology • ESL Gaming UK LTD T/A
Turtle Entertainment UK • esports insider • Esports News • Etch UK • Everyone Can • Exertis Gem • Exient • Experience12 • Expression Games • FaceIT • Facepunch Studios •
FactorTech • Fallen Planet Studios • Fansensus • Fat Kraken • Fayju • Fife College • Fire Without Smoke • Firebolt Games Limited • Firebrand Games • Fireshine Games (Sold Out
Sales & Marketing) • Fireslug Studios • Firestoke Games • First Light • First Touch Games • Fish Bladder Games • Five Aces Publishing Ltd • Flavourworks Limited • Flick Games
• Flix Interactive • Flying Interactive Ltd • Focus Multimedia • Format • Fortitude Games • Fosun Group • Fourth Floor Creative • Fresh Seed • FruitLab • Fundamentally Games •
Fusebox Games • Fusion 85 • Future Games of London • FuturLab • Game Academy • GAME Retail • Gamearound • GameBench • Gamer Network • Gamers Beat Cancer •
Games Jobs Live • Games London • GamesAid • Gamewagon • Gamification Nation • GDL (Game Dev London) • GEEIQ • Genba Digital • Generation Media • Gfinity • GG
Insurance (General & Medical) • Ghub • Ginx TV • Glitche.rs • Globalstep • Globant • Gltch Group • Goldborough Studio • Goldsmiths, University of London • Good Place Ideas •
Google • GOSH • GRACEWEAR • Grads in Games • Gram Games • Grandad Digital • Gratitude • Green Man Gaming • GrosChevaux • Ground Shatter • Guild esports • Halo
Financial • Hangar 13 • Harbottle & Lewis LLP • Hardlight • Hasbro • Heaven Media • Hello Games • Here East • Heroic Labs • Hertzian Ltd (t/a Player XP) • Hi-Rez Studios •
Hiro Capital • HOST • Hotdrop • Humain • Hungry Billy • Hutch Games • Ian Hamilton Design & Consultancy • ICO Partners • Identity Spark • Included Games • Indigo Pearl •
Infinite Worlds • InGame • Innovation Birmingham Campus • International Games Developers Association • Into Games • Intorqa • Invincibles Studios (Soccer Manager) • IOTLVL
• Ipsos Mori UK Limited • Irwin Mitchell LLP • ISM (Interactive Studio Mgt) • Isokron • Jagex • Johnny Atom Productions • Johnston Carmichael • Junkfish • JustDan • Kairos
Media • Kalypso Media Digital Ltd • Kando Factory • Kantar Worldpanel • Kempt and Co • Kepler Interactive • Keymailer • Keywords • Kinephantom Games • King • Koei Tecmo
Europe • Konami Digital Entertainment • Kotori Studios • Kuju Entertainment • Kwalee • Kybele Studio • Kythera AI • Lab42 • LabelRadar • Laced Music • Lava Games • LDN
UTD • Leapfrog • Lee & Thompson • Lewis Silkin • LeYou Technologies • Lick PR • Lighthouse Games • Lightspeed Studios • Liquid Crimson • Liquid Violet • Little Big PR •
Liverpool John Moores University • Loading Bar • Localize Direct • London South Bank University • Ludus Magnus • Maasai Mosh Games • Madorium • Magic Notion • Magicave
• Magnetic Arcade • Make Real • Making Moves London • Manchester Metropolitan University • Marchsreiter Communications • Marvelous Europe Limited • Mastered • Matata
Corporation • Maverick Games • Maverick Media • Max Louis Creative • Maximum Games • Maze Theory Ltd • Mechabit • Media Molecule • Mediabodies • Mediatonic • Meet
Eric • Menzies LLP • Merge Games • Mermaids • Meteor Pixel • Microsoft • Middlesbrough College • Mike Bithell Games • Milestone • Milky Tea • Mimram Media • Mincoffs •
Mind Fitness Learning Ltd • Mishcon • Mobile Pie • Mod.io • Model Esports • Modern Dream • Modsquad • Mojiworks • Moore Kingston Smith • Moxy • Multiplay • My Games •
Mythical Games • MYU Creations Ltd • Nacon • National Student Esports Ltd • NaturalMotion Games • NCSOFT Europe Ltd. • nDreams • NE Games • Neonhive limited •
Nequinox Studios • Nesta • NetEase (UK Netease Interactive Entertainment Ltd) • Netspeak Games • Network N t/a Publisher Collective • Newcastle College • Next Gen Skills
Academy • Nick Parker Consulting Ltd • Niffler • Nineteen Eleven Games • Ninja Kiwi Europe • Nintendo UK • Northern Ireland Screen • Northern Lights Arena Europe • Norwich
University of the Arts • Nosebleed Interactive • Numskull Games • Odgers Berndtson • Oktra • OMUK • On the EDGE Conservation • OPMjobs Ltd • Other Things • Oury Clark •
Outright Games • Outstandly Ventures • Ovomind • Panivox • Pataphysics • Payload Studios • Pemogrand Ltd t/a RENDEMENT • Piepacker • Piggyback Interactive • PitStop
Productions • Pixel Bar Ltd • Pixel Games UK • Pixel Toys • Pixel United • Pixion Games • PLAION • Plan of Attack • Platform Ltd • Playdemic • Player Lands • Player One
Consulting • Player State • Playground games • Playmob • Playniac • Playstack • Playtonic Games • Plus Accounting • PQube • Press Engine • Private Division • Psycho Hound
• PTW International (Pole to Win Europe) • Purewal & Partners • Qualicon • Quantic Lab • Quantum Soup Studios • Quiet Forces • Radical Forge • Rantmedia Games • Raptor PR
Ltd • Rare • Raspberry Pi Foundation • Ravensbourne University London • ReadGraves • Reality Games • RealtimeUK • Recontact Digital Arts • Red Kite Games • Red Phantom
Games • Reflection.io • Remote Control Productions • Renaissance PR • Retro Games • Revolution Software • Rezzil • Riot Games • Ripstone • Rising Star Games Limited •
Roblox Corporation • Robot Teddy • Robot Turtle Limited • RockSteady Games • Rogue Sun • Rogue Vector • Roll7 • Roucan Events & Content • Safe in our World • Saffrey
Champness • Sandford Tech • Sauce Labs • Scirra • Scottish Games Network • Secret Mode • SEGA Europe • Seven Point Red • SFB Games Limited • Shark Infested Custard •
Sharkmob • Sheridans • Sherimedia Ltd • Shipleys LLP • SIDE • Sidequest Meta • Silicon Digital • Simple Video Games / SummuS • Simul • Singer Interactive Limited • Six to
Start • SKC Games Studio Limited • Sketchbook Games • Skillsearch • Skybound Games • Skyhook Games • Sledgehammer Games • Slightly Mad Studios • Snakebyte UK
limited • Solar Flare • Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe • Soul Assembly • South Gloucestershire and Stroud College • Space Ape Games • SpecialEffect • Spectarium •
Spencer West (Superpop Ltd) • Sphaira Innovation AG • Spilt Milk Studios • Splash Damage • Sponge Hammer Games • Sports Interactive • Square Enix • Staffordshire
University • Starlight Games • State of Play Games • Steel City Interactive Ltd • Steel Media • Stellar Entertainment • Stick Sports • Story Juice • Studio Gobo • Studio Vision •
Studiotypes • Sugar • Sumo Group plc • Super Spline Studios • Supernova Esports and Events Limited • Superscale • Supply Drop • Swallowtail Games • Swipe Right • System
3 Software • Tag games • Take-Two Interactive Software Europe • TAKEOFF Creative • Talespinners • Talewind • Tandem Events • Tate Multimedia • Taylor Wessing • Team17 •
Tencent • Terra Virtua • Testronic Laboratories Ltd • The Academy of Contemporary Music • The Brain Tumour Charity • The Chinese Room • The Cult Games • The Diana
Award • The Esports Business Group • The Game Assembly • The Irregular Corporation • The Multiplayer Guys • The NUEL Esports Ltd • The Sandbox • The Story Mob • The
Tall Trees • The Tiniest Shark • The Trailer Farm • The Voice Over Network • The Walt Disney Co. • Theorycraft Marketing (BM Media Consulting Ltd) • Third Kind Games • Three Fields Entertainment • Three Knots • TinyBuild • tournamentcenter • Tower Studios • Trailmix Games • Tripp Associates • TT Games • TTT Moneycorp • Two Point Studios • Two Tails • U&I Entertainment • UberStrategist • Ubisoft • UnifiQ • Unity Technologies • Universally Speaking • University College London • University of Bedfordshire • University of Chichester • University of East London • University of Greenwich • University of Southampton • University of Westminster • unrd • Unseen Galaxy • Urban Ledgers • ustwo • Utopian World of Sandwiches • Uzone Network Technologies • Variable State • Venatus • Verifymyage • Very PC • Viewpoint Games • Virtual Arts • Visual Silicon • W.R.K.S GAMES LTD • Warchild • Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment • Warp Digital • Waste Creative • WDC, Whale and Dolphin Conservation • Web Capio • Well Played Games • WhatBoy Games • Wicked Sick • Wiggin • Wired Productions • Wired Sussex • Wizards of the Coast • Women in Games • Wushu Studios Ltd • Xiotex Studios • Xplorealms •
XR Games • Yahaha • Yogscast • Yoko Media Ltd (Game Jobs Direct) • YouGov • YRS TRULY • ZA/UM Studio • ZeniMax Europe (Bethesda)
Annual
Review
2023

TIM WOODLEY
Ukie Chair, Head of Publishing
Hello Games
GEOFF DRACOTT
Director of UK Corporate Affairs
Take 2
MARK BACKLER
Founder and Creative Director
Sketchbook Games
SAMANTHA EBELTHITE
Ukie Vice Chair, Chief Revenue
Officer – Outright Games
JONATHAN EDWARDS
Head of Sales
Warner Bros
MARK SLAUGHTER
General Manager Marketing
Northern Europe & Canada – Ubisoft
LIZ FITZGERALD
Ukie Treasurer, Director of Finance &
Operations – Sony Entertainment UK
CHRISTOPHER GARRATTY
Associate Director, Legal
Activision Blizzard King
ROBERT POSGATE
Legal Counsel & Leadership
Nintendo
JAMES BUTCHER
UK & Ireland Xbox Category
Director – Microsoft
DES GAYLE
Founder & Producer
Altered Gene
HARINDER SANGHA
Operations Director
Maverick Games
ANDY TOMLINSON
Director of European Policy
Electronic Arts (EA)
THOMAS HEGARTY
Co-CEO
Roll7
MARÍA SAYANS
CEO
Ustwo
KELVIN PLOMER
Senior Director of Games Operations
Jagex
ROBERT KINDER
Publishing Director
Payload Studios
JAY SHIN
Director
Arrogant Pixel
JAMES DOBROWSKI
Managing Director
Sharkmob
LI MA
Director of UK & Ireland
Tencent
RAFAL KLOCZKO
Deputy General Counsel
Epic Games
BOARD MEMBERS 2022-23
SIMON BARRATT
CEO and Co-founder
Cooperative Innovations
2 | Annual Review 2023

CONTENTS
04
Chair’s Report
06
Co-CEO’s Report
08
Ukie in Numbers
10
Policy & Public Affairs
12
Insight and Innovation
14
Campaigns & Communications
16
#RaisetheGame
18
Protecting our members against
IP infringement
20
Membership & Commercial Services
22
Education and Skills
24
London Games Festival 2023
25
Sustainability remains front and centre
26
Thank you Jo Twist
30
Member Groups
31
Ukie Staff
OUR INITIATIVES
Annual Review 2023 | 3

TIM WOODLEY
4 | Annual Review 2023
This year has been a
dizzying reminder of how much Ukie is working on at
any given moment on behalf of its members

W
hen I look back at the last 12 months as Chair of the
Ukie board, there is so much to be proud of. This
year has been a dizzying reminder of how much Ukie is
working on at any given moment on behalf of its members.
Whilst the spectre of Loot Boxes, which dominated so
much of the last couple of years is still there, it has been
dwarfed by the positive front-footed momentum we seem
to be experiencing.

Our showcase at Number 10 was a headline-grabbing
moment. Even a long-in-the-tooth industry veteran like
myself felt the plates shift on that day. It was gratifying to see
the whole Ukie team rally around as they so often do to bring
that event together at record speed. The importance of that
opportunity was not lost on anyone in attendance, seeming
to encapsulate what almost a decade of hard work had been
building to. And the result – a new dawn and a re-generation.
It is evidently clear that the mood in the corridors of power
seems to be fundamentally changing; the government was
looking to us to show the other creative industries how it’s
done, with invitations to meet the Secretary of State and lead
roundtables at HMT Connect series.

In the wake of these changing tides, Ukie finds itself in-
between CEOs. And the departure of our former CEO,
Dr Jo Twist OBE, was a sad moment for the industry.
She has done so much to get us to where we are today,
proving to be exactly what we needed, exactly when we
needed it. But Ukie’s future is bright. The current team is a
rock-solid foundation with a great mix of experience and
young energy on which to build for the next decade. The
board has told Sam and Dan, our extremely experienced
acting-co-CEOs that we shouldn’t stand still and let this
golden opportunity pass us by. In that vein we continue to drive forward with the same
impetus as ever, particularly as we look to build a new
manifesto for a new government next year. As such we will
be developing an evidence-based manifesto to succinctly
show the upward trajectory of the industry over the next
decade, and our key asks that will help us to get there.
We know from industry that the skills shortage will be front
and centre of this work and addressing that will require
all Ukie departments firing on all cylinders, from political
campaigning to our education and Equality, Diversity and
Inclusion initiatives, to our media engagement.

Ukie’s challenge in all this is continuing to ensure that it
is the right size and shape for the ever-evolving industry
we represent. The UK industry has grown to £5.2bn,
the biggest creative industry in the country and yet it is
still represented by a team 19 people, all of whom work
tirelessly to rise to the challenges that any fast-moving
industry will face while at the same time capitalising on
the associated opportunities. We are a not-for-profit
organisation, but we need to make sure we are not just
‘living within our means’ and instead delivering a surplus
such that we can re-invest in the organisation and keep
pace with the growth of the industry and its needs.

As productive as the team is, I believe there is much more
we could be doing to address burning issues like skills and
AI. I have faith that the incoming CEO will take us from our
current nose-to-the-grindstone start-up mode, allowing
our team space to breathe, strategize, and get ready for
that brand new dawn for the UK games industry.
Tim Woodley – Ukie Chair
Head of Publishing – Hello Games
Chair’s Report
Annual Review 2023 | 5

6 | Annual Review 2023
We’ve known for a
long time that video
games are the most
powerful creative tools of the 21st century, and the UK government is paying attention.
DANIEL WOOD AND SAM COLLINS
CO-CEOs UKIE

Annual Review 2023 | 7
2
023 has been a defining year for the UK games
industry. Video games matter now more than ever
– economically, socially and culturally. Now with 600
members that represent 90% of games industry revenue,
it’s fair to say that Ukie is at the heart of the sector, and
we’re prepared to help shape what the future looks like.

We’ve known for a long time that video games are the most
powerful creative medium of the 21st century, and the UK
government is paying attention. At a time where we are
facing a turning point in technological change akin to the
Industrial Revolution, video games are providing a space
in which the possibilities of technology can be applied in
a structured and creative way. As a result, we’re seeing a
dramatic increase in our direct dialogue with policymakers
as they proactively engage with the sector and its broader
conversations. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape
positive conversations with government about video
games and the endless possibilities they hold.

Alongside this sea change in government opinion we’re
ending this year on the front foot, ready to be more
proactive, impactful and more valuable to both our
members and the wider games industry. We’ve welcomed
seven new starters since the last Annual Review, as
well and today announce this year’s cohort of Board
members help support our collective aims. This will form
a strong basis as we turn to the next year; building on
our campaigning strategy, launching new products and
services as well as fine tuning current ones and pushing for
more government support as we turn our attention to the
skills challenge. As the sector expands and our impact on other industries
is understood, we need to make sure Ukie is providing the
support our members need to make informed decisions
and maximise their opportunities. Other countries have
identified games as a key sector and are investing heavily
in it and removing barriers to growth. We are in danger
of being left behind unless we see similar support from
policy makers, particularly in the areas of funding for all
business stages and in the talent shortages games studios
are facing. We also have responsibility as a sector to our
players, both in terms of how they play and how they
pay – and we aim to continue to work with government
to ensure all policy decisions are well-informed and
evidence-based.

In this pivotal moment for games, we’re grateful for the
opportunity we’ve been given to steer Ukie in the wake
of Jo’s departure. Whilst we’re sad to see her go, we see
this as an amazing chance to build on the work that she’s
done over the last ten years. Looking ahead, we stand
ready to support the new CEO as we all work collectively
to grow Ukie.

The Annual Review is a wonderful moment to reflect on
Ukie’s achievements over the past year, and it’s in this
reflection that we are able to better look forward. We’d like
to take a moment to thank our team, Board and members
for their work this year, and we hope you find the 2023
Ukie Annual Review to be both insightful and inspiring.
Daniel Wood and Sam Collins
Ukie
Co-CEO’s Report

8 | Annual Review 2023
600+
Ukie members
830
Video Game
Ambassadors
1. 6 million
impr essions ac ross Tw itter
1,000+
pieces of pr ess
co vera ge

35
mentions in
P arliament
18
members of the All Party
P arliamentary Gr oup for
Games and Espo rts

35, 000
students suppor ted through our
Digital Schoolhouse pr ogramme
41
Ukie events held
across the year
200+
#RaiseTheGame
par tner s
IN NUMBERS
in Numbers
Ukie

Annual Review 2023 | 9
From Guildford to
Dundee, our globally
renowned video games
sector is attracting
investment, creating
skilled jobs and

opening up exciting
new opportunities
for growth
RT HON RISHI SUNAK, PRIME MINISTER

10 | Annual Review 2023
Policy and
Public Affairs
Working with Government to build a nurturing policy environment

It has been an eventful year for Ukie’s Policy and Public Affairs team. Facing the possibility of a
General Election in 2024, we have been engaging with government, opposition, regulators and
officials to communicate the Sector’s priorities and
achievements. In this way, Ukie makes sure the voice of the UK video games industry is a part of key policy decisions about games, and continue to positively influence them.
Showcasing video games at
10 Downing Street
The games industry showcase at 10
Downing Street was the highlight of
our year. Hosted in April 2023 and
organised by Ukie, the event brought
together industry leaders, the Prime
Minister, his wife, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, three Secretaries of
State, Ministers, officials and school
children for a celebration of amazing
British video games, their economic
impact and contribution to education.
Attendees demo-ed innovative
games illustrating the sector’s
creative prowess and global impact.

Annual Review 2023 | 11
Government endorses industrys loot box principlesContinuing our Parliamentary
engagement
This year has also been successful
in terms of growing our All-Party
Parliamentary Group (APPG),
connecting the sector to interested
parliamentarians. Events within
Parliament included the “Portcullis
Cup”, a FIFA 23 Tournament in
support of Digital Schoolhouse as
well as a lunch about education and
play organised by Ukie and Roblox.
Meanwhile, the policy team continues
to respond to wider consultations
on issues such as AI, the shortage
occupation list, data protection and
online safety. We are grateful for
the continued input of our members
on these issues, whose guidance
is integral to Ukie’s campaigning
direction.
Developing a Ukie manifesto
With a general election expected to
take place next year, Ukie has been
hard at work developing the Ukie
Video Games Manifesto. We have
conducted meetings in video game
clusters throughout the country and
online, focusing on themes such as
Following the 2022 Autumn Statement
there was a consultation on the
audio-visual tax reliefs, including
the hugely successful Video Games
Tax Relief (VGTR), to which Ukie
submitted oral and written evidence
gathered from members and non-
members alike. The Spring Budget
then announced the introduction of
the Video Games Expenditure Credit
After ten months of diligent work,
the Technical Working Group co-
chaired by Ukie achieved a significant
milestone when Government endorsed
the industry principles on Loot Boxes.
The result of a lengthy call for evidence,
this endorsement recognises the
strides made by the games industry to address concerns around Loot Boxes.
The principles include measures on
age assurance, probability disclosures,
refunds and data usage as well as a
commitment to high quality research
and plans for a comprehensive public
information campaign led by Ukie
and its’ members.
(VGEC) from 1st April 2025 (or 2027
for titles currently in production),
replacing VGTR with an effective
rate of approximately 25.5%. Ukie,
alongside its members and partners,
continue to engage with the Treasury
and HMRC to discuss the final details
of VGEC, its implementation, and how
administrative changes may affect
members.
Video Games Expenditure Credit
skills and talent, investment and
finance, regulation and attitudes
towards games. These discussions
are instrumental in ensuring the
manifesto truly reflects the collective
needs and aspirations of our diverse
industry.

12 | Annual Review 2023
Innovation
Insight &
January saw the full release of
the new UK Games Map with a
flagship feature allowing industry
professionals to manage their own
company listings. The improved
map shows the UK has 2,650 active
game development studios and
the UK Games Map website has
391 registered users. We produced
the UK Games Map with The Nursery,
Kieran Darcy and Matt Spall and
DiscoverUni. The new database has provided the
foundation for one of our upcoming
publications – a report on the regional
economic impact of the UK games
industry. Working with Nordicity and
UCL, later this year we will publish
a full update of Ukie’s 2016 Think
Global, Create Local report, using
data covering 2017-2021.
The UK Games Map
Delivering high-quality research and
working with expert partners to help the
industry and world make sense of games.

Annual Review 2023 | 13
We produced a detailed internal
report on how VGTR return-on-
investment is calculated, identifying
several weaknesses compared to
other sectors and recommending
an approach to improving the
calculation. As this report was
completed the government
announced the audiovisual tax
reliefs consultation. As part of the Policy team’s response,
we designed and implemented an
online survey that provided over
2,000 unique insights.
In parallel with our own work,
Tencent were considering the
economic impact of video game
technology. Since December 2022,
we have overseen an investigation into the economic value of this
technology spillover in the UK and
Nordic regions carried out by FTI
Consulting, supported by Tencent.
The results of this work will be
published in August. Initial findings
suggest a spillover impact of up to
£1.3bn for 2021. For reference, the
industry’s overall economic impact in
2019 was £5.1bn.
Supporting policy with data and analysis
April saw the release of our annual
Consumer Games Market Valuation;
the market declined 5.6% to a total
of £7.05bn following the pandemic
spending boom but remained in line
(+17%) with projections from 2019. For the first time we published the
UK market share of UK-made games,
based on our own research, which
was 16%. 2022 was a record year for
video game films at the box office,
taking in over £50m. Insight from our acquisitions tracker via
the Ukie Worldwide campaign, found
that over the five-year period 2017-
2021, acquisitions by overseas firms
totalled £6.0bn, with 2020 and 2021
being the most intense years on record.
Measuring our market
We represent the UK games industry
and provide insight in various
capacities across the creative
industries, including with such bodies
as ONS, DCMS, StoryFutures, the BFI,
IGGI, the CIC, EGDF, King’s College London, Game Anglia and

the Video Games Research
Framework. We are the UK
seller for Games Sales Data
reports in partnership with
Video Games Europe.
Advising the creative industries

14 | Annual Review 2023
Making the voice of the UK games sector
heard by demonstrating its positive impact
as an economic and cultural powerhouse.
At the start of the year we relaunched
the UK Games Map, which found that
the number of UK games businesses
had grown by almost a third since
September 2016. This positive story
secured coverage in GI.Biz and
Pocket Gamer as well as tech-focus
publications Tech Register and Digit
News. We also provided BBC Radio
Sheffield with a local developer for a
morning interview about the number
of games industries in Sheffield
constituencies. In similar vein the consumer
valuation, a yearly demonstration
of the widespread appeal of video
games, found that games and their
related culture are still immensely
popular in the UK. As a result we saw
positive coverage from BBC Online,
the Metro and NME all leading with
the fact that consumer spend was
still 17% higher than it was in 2019.
Demonstrating the sectors value
Communications
Campaigns &
14 | Annual Review 2023

Annual Review 2023 | 15
As part of our political campaigning
efforts to preserve and improve the
Video Game Tax Relief during the
government’s review of the AV tax
reliefs, we published an op-ed in
GamesIndustry.Biz, whilst our
urgent calls to government for
further support were quoted in
The Guardian and NME.
We also saw a significant boost to the sector’s reputation across print and
social media following the Number
10 showcase. The showcase was a
crucial moment for telling a positive
yet compelling story of the UK sector.
A huge win for Ukie communications,
our press release contained a quote
from the Prime Minister himself,
who also publicised the event on
his personal socials – with 359.5k
unique views on Twitter and 5.1k reactions on LinkedIn.
Finally, this year saw us branch out
into drafting more opinion pieces
for press and editorial pieces,
beginning with Jo Twist’s op-ed
in GamesIndustry.Biz at the start
of the year and continuing with a
new thought leadership series on
LinkedIn and Twitter covering our
thoughts on hot topics like AI.
Political campaigning
This year we launched our flagship
3-year responsible play campaign,
aimed at empowering parents to have
conversations with their children
about setting healthy boundaries
around video games.
The campaign was fronted by
presenter and comedian Judi Love,
and supported by clinical psychologist
Tanya Byron. Timed to coincide with the summer holidays, the campaign
supported parents through a new
PowerUpPact – a print-out form which
guides parents in having conversations
and setting boundaries around video
games with their children.
The campaign successfully launched
at the end of July securing coverage
across national and regional media,
including Grazia magazine and The Sun. We also reached an
audience of thousands across social
media with our dedicated campaign
video. This was shared by Judi Love
to help secure impact with our target
audience of parents.
The next phase of the campaign will
focus on targeting parliamentarians
as we move into Party Conference
season.
Campaigning for responsible play

16 | Annual Review 2023
across the UK games industry
Inspiring meaningful impact
Making the UK games industry more equal and
inclusive, bringing valuable perspectives from
across society into our sector.
The #RaiseTheGame initiative
continues to grow, both in terms of
increased engagement, but also as the
go-to for games businesses to improve
their EDI work through diverse
recruiting practices and building
inclusive working environments. To
support all this work, we continue to
grow the #RaiseTheGame monthly
newsletter and have partnered with events such as Game Dev London
Expo (GDLX) to promote this work.

In particular, the Festival of Food
Evening at this year’s Develop:Brighton,
which was designed to demonstrate
inclusive event best practices, saw
over 400 sign-ups with 6 sponsors
involved including Lead Partner
SEGA HARDlight.
#RaiseTheGame Diversity Pledge
#RaiseTheGame
16 | Annual Review 2023

Earlier this year we launched the
Impact Campaign in partnership
with Many Cats Studios. The
campaign showcases and
celebrates the talents of disabled
and neurodiverse UK-based games industry professionals across various
areas, specialisms and levels. In
its first ever year, Impact received
82 nominations for the six-person
cohort, who were selected by a panel
of industry judges.
Launching the Impact campaign
We ran the pledge’s first campaign
called Access November over two
weeks in November 2022. The
campaign looked at amplifying
accessibility awareness, including
creating a partnership with Europe’s
largest accessibility and inclusion
gathering – AbilityNet’s TechShare
Pro conference. Meanwhile, the Empower Up Toolkit
Platform, delivered in partnership
with Amiqus and G Into Gaming,
is currently work in progress. An
ever-growing ‘one stop’ source for
EDI guidance and resources, the
platform will aim to provide resources
to instigate and maintain inclusive
company culture and is intended to
launch before the end of the year.
Wider industry campaigns
Ukie aims not only to set the standard
for the UK games industry, but to
meet it ourselves. We seek to build an
inclusive environment internally as
well as throughout the wider industry,
beginning with company culture –
including robust bonus schemes,
private medical access and mental
health support services.
Supporting our sta and people
Annual Review 2023 | 17

18 | Annual Review 2023
Helping members to protect their content and
therefore their revenues, with over 60 members
currently making use of our free IP Monitoring
service.
against IP infringement
Protecting our members
Since the earliest commercial video
games were sold, there has been a
motive to copy or now “crack” the
technological protections around
a title and offer it for less. Even
users downloading games for ‘free’
do so from websites that make
revenue from each download or via
advertising – none of which is shared
with the IP owner.
In addition to removing download
links for pirated traditional PC and
console games, we work against copy
or clone apps, social media groups
offering digital goods for discounted
prices or videos posting unauthorised
video content. Our service detects
and reports infringing URLs daily –
last year removing over 75% of the
URLs within 24 hours to limit the
availability of files.
A significant part of the work we do
involves partnerships with other
content owners and agencies in the UK. Indeed, one important ally in our
fight to protect IP is the Intellectual
Property Office (IPO), who fund IP
Protection with the City of London
Police – known as PIPCU. Working
with PIPCU has given us the ability to
suspend websites in situations where
our own takedown notices have not
been effective. PIPCU also maintain
the Infringing Website List (IWL)
which is shared with brands and ad
agencies to ensure no reputable
ads are found on websites offering
any infringing content (download or
streaming). In this way, we stop these
website owners from making money
and in turn we stop their activity.
We understand the landscape
continues to change and there are
always new ways to monetise game
content. If you face any issue, always
remember to get in touch as it might
be something that also impacts other
game companies.

Annual Review 2023 | 19Annual Review 2023 | 19
Our video games
sector is world class
RT HON, LUCY FRAZER, SECRETARY OF STATE AT
THE DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

20 | Annual Review 2023
In addition to our extensive campaigning work, Ukie is also professional
community spanning the whole ecosystem of the UK games sector. Over the
past 12 months, the membership team has trialled multiple new activities and
increased our offering of in-person events. The gateway into Ukie, they work
directly with our members to answer questions, develop connections and
source information.
Meanwhile, as a not-for-profit organisation, we’ve been continuing to secure
and nurture the partnership sponsors that maintain Ukie’s reputation for high-
quality activities as well as affordable and reliable services for our members. In
the coming year we’ll be building on this work – reimagining established projects
and building upon successes to produce useful and meaningful opportunities
for the entire games industry.
commercial services
Membership &
Our Hub Crawl achieved record
attendee numbers in 2023.
Comprising of 4 virtual sessions and
8 in-person, ‘Developers Unite’ was
open to all and focused on peer-
to-peer knowledge sharing whilst acting as a celebration of developer
communities. This year all sessions
were recorded and uploaded to
UkieTV – a decision which made the
60 talks accessible to anyone and
everyone.
Ukie Hub Crawl: Developers Unite
Supporting over 600 members spanning the
entire video games ecosystem to grow and
thrive in the UK.
20 | Annual Review 2023

Annual Review 2023 | 21
Throughout the year, the
membership team have connected
companies looking for work-for-
hire using our database, connected
member-to-member for potential
business and provided information
to assist with pitches, case studies
and business plans. In 2023 we introduced an
exclusive Member Breakfast at
Develop:Brighton to the roster
of meetups throughout the year,
providing an ideal start to the event
and an opportunity for members to
(re)connect in-person.
Member-to-member knowledge
sharing is also a key part of our
work. The NeedtoKnow series on YouTube presents the expertise of
our partner members through ten-
minute casual interviews. Meanwhile,
our Roundtable Series was extended
due to popular demand and covered
a 10-month schedule in total. Topics
included menopause, working with
charities, returning to the office and
the future of modding amongst others
– all led by Ukie members.
Member-to-member support
Following a successful 2022 show
Ukie returned to Cologne, where
over 90 companies exhibited on the
Ukie stand and generated business
wins of £40 million. We also attended
GDC in 2023 for the first time since
2019, partnering up with Department
for Business and Trade (DBAT) to
support networking opportunities for
the British delegation. Our partnership with Creative UK
continued, delivering accelerator
programmes created to support
emerging and growing UK games
companies. In addition to this, we
teamed up with Barclays Games and
Esports to develop and deliver the
UK’s first accelerator programme
dedicated to companies focused on
mobile game development. The coming 12 months will see
the expansion of our international
trade programme, Ukie Worldwide,
focusing on emerging markets
including Africa and Latin America,
whilst continuing relationships with
Europe, China and beyond.
International and national trade

22 | Annual Review 2023
Digital Schoolhouse continued to
expand its offering to communities
across the UK and beyond! Our
workshops have reached 30,466
students and 1,788 teachers across
the UK and Nigeria, and we were
excited to launch our first pilot
school in Ghana. The team also
visited Lagos, Philadelphia,
Belgrade and the Caribbean,
strengthening our collaborative
international partnerships and
establishing new ones.
We welcomed 17 new Schoolhouses
to our network of schools and colleges in the UK, including 8
primary schools, revealing a growing
appetite for our free play-based
computing workshops for younger
students.
The DSH Super Smash Bros.
Ultimate Team Battle esports
tournament reached over 3,600
students, 26% of whom are SEND.
We celebrated the incredible
sportsmanship of our competing
teams as well as recognising
additional skills in journalism, brand
design and shoutcasting. Meanwhile,
our junior tournament for primary school age pupils continued to grow
and was delivered across 27 schools.
Our newest initiatives demonstrated
alternative ways that Digital
Schoolhouse can support the
development of skills and aspirations
beyond the core programme. The
Libraries Project allowed us to reach
over 400 additional students in
communities around the country,
while the Festival of Play expanded
to Birmingham alongside its second
year in Salford, allowing students to
engage directly with industry through
exhibition spaces, talks and workshops.
Digital Schoolhouse
Building the next generation of video games talent here
in the UK, and sharing best practice across the world.
and Skills
Education
22 | Annual Review 2023

Annual Review 2023 | 23
The Ukie Education Member Group
has gone from strength to strength
with over 60 members from academia
and industry represented in our
quarterly discussions.
Ukie Students programme

Over the past year, the Ukie
Students programme has supported
a highly engaged network of over
3,100 students and over 90 faculty
members, across 22 UK academic
institutions – and is still growing
every month.
We’ve held three fantastic Ukie
Student Conferences, each featuring
a packed programme of speakers
including Epic Games, Bithell Games,
ID@Xbox, Electronic Arts, Rare, and
many more. The first and biggest was
at Staffordshire University in October
2022, the second at W.A.S.D 2023
London in March 2023, and the final
event in May 2023 was fully virtual.
Over 350 students attended these
Video Games Ambassadors

The VGA programme, run in
partnership with Into Games,
continues to grow and evolve. The
network has expanded to over 830
industry volunteers, supporting
over 360 ‘opportunity providers’
from schools, universities, youth
groups and more through career
talks, coursework consultation and
mentorships.
At our AGM at EGX London in
September 2022, Ukie and Into
Games held the first-ever VGA
Awards, celebrating the efforts of
the network’s brilliant volunteers.
We recognised the Most Involved
VGA, Most Influential VGA and
Rising VGA.
Ukie Education
Member Group
events in person, with an additional
450+ tuning in to the talks online.
We also offered some exciting
opportunities to our student
members this year. A cohort of
students from the all-female Google
Scholars programme joined us
for gamescom 2022, supporting
the Ukie team on the UK industry
stand. Meanwhile, 15 Ukie Students
volunteers attended the Festival
of Play 2023 to support the Digital
Schoolhouse team. We’ve also been
able to secure exciting showcasing
opportunities for our students
through industry and partner
members, such as the Barclays
Games Frenzy in May 2023.

24 | Annual Review 2023
Festival 2023
London Games
The 2023 London Games Festival
was a breakthrough year for the
event. Now in its eighth iteration, the
international celebration of games
was a hybrid programme delivered
12 days of events and activities.
The programme also included an
online games showcase, playable
demo streams and ample industry
networking.
Beginning in an opening ceremony
at Coutt’s bank on 28th March and
culminating on the 9th April at
Somerset House, LGF’s core activity
plus partner events such as Now Play
This and W.A.S.D saw over 58,000
in-person attendees. Over 3,500 of this total were professional visitors,
with Games London’s flagship event
Games Finance Market returning to
pre-Covid levels of involvement.
The festival kicked off by announcing
the fourth annual Ensemble
cohort; eight outstanding video
game talents from Black, Asian
and underrepresented ethnicities.
Meanwhile, players were encouraged
to check out online promotions
across some of the biggest Apple
iOS mobile apps, treated to a Steam
sale of London-made games and
encouraged to wishlist or demo
upcoming unreleased games as part
of the festival’s Official Selection – attracting over 8m impressions and
over 1.5m unique views. In total, 373
games were represented over the
course of the festival.
Details about the 2024 event will be
available soon.
If youd like to hear more about the
work of the Games London team,
please email Michael French at
michael.french@games.london

The London Games Festival is part
of Games London, an initiative
delivered by Film London and
Ukie and funded by the Mayor of
London.
24
| Annual Review 2023

Annual Review 2023 | 25
Define your scope and 
timeline to reduce your 
carbon footprint 
Calculate 
your emissions 
Take bold and
ambitious action to
reduce your carbon
footprint
When impossible 
to avoid, hit the 
offset button
Ratchet, review
and recommend
to others
We’ve continued to secure a close
commercial partnership with the
UN’s Playing for the Planet Alliance,
supporting their growth and mission
to help the sector combat climate
change. This year we hosted the
first ever in-person Green Games
Jam awards ceremony at our
offices, celebrating a cohort of
games designed to educate players
about endangered ecosystems and
promote conservation efforts. At the same time, our Sustainability
members group has begun a series
of open-access talks to educate
not just members but the wider
industry on the importance of green
games practices. We’ve continued
to represent games in discussions
around the wider creative industries’
impact as part of the government-
led Creative Industries Council
Sustainability Group, and played
a lead role in a new report that will
define how the games industry
measures its carbon emissions.
front and centre
Sustainability remains
Annual Review 2023 | 25

After 10 years at the helm of Ukie, Dr Jo Twist OBE moved on to new
pastures at the end of June.
When looking back over the past decade, it’s clear to see that her work
has always been informed by one overriding principle: that video games
are for everyone. As the consumer value of games in the UK hits the
£7 billion mark, this might seem obvious. But Jo has always been years
ahead of the curve when it comes to advocating for all kinds of interactive
entertainment and all kinds of players.
We’d like to take the opportunity to look back at the amazing achievements
she’s helped Ukie reach over the past decade and say a big thank you to
our outgoing fearless leader.
Dr Jo
Twist OBE
26 | Annual Review 2023

Annual Review 2023 | 27
The early Twist years
In 2012, the games industry was
rapidly evolving. Digital storefronts,
app stores, and the limitless
potential of online games saw
the rise of mobile and digital first
releases, as well as a generation
of new players. This period of
transformation brought about a
golden age of growth for UK studios
– but with it new challenges and
priorities.
As the gap between developers and
publishers began to close, the UK’s
publisher trade association found
itself working more closely with
developers. ELSPA had rebranded
in 2010 to The Association for
UK Interactive Entertainment, or
Ukie, with the intention of covering
all sides of the games industry.
But they needed a face for the
historically faceless organization
who would reflect this new direction.
Someone who would bring an
approach and image that reflected
who we wanted to be as much as
who we were becoming; someone
bold who would shine as bright as
we wanted to. Enter Jo Twist. One of the first people to denounce
the word “gamer” as a limiting and
stereotypical label, Jo has worked
tirelessly to show government,
media and the world that games are
more than just violent video nasties,
and that the people who play, make
and sell them can and should come
from all kinds of backgrounds.
As online games became a more
significant part of young people’s
lives, concern grew about their
potentially unrestricted access to
in-game spending and inappropriate
content. Jo worked extensively as
a spokesperson for government
consultations and Calls for Evidence
on this topic, as well as overseeing the
launch of our first responsible play
campaign, Get Smart About Play.
Whilst helping to inform the public of the positive contributions games
can make to our lives, Jo in turn
worked to encourage the industry to
extend its messaging about parents
to foster parents, legal guardians and
the carers of children and vulnerable
adults.
However, Jo’s sense of the games
industry’s responsibility extends
beyond families – a year later as
delegates gathered in Glasgow for
COP26, Ukie launched the Green
Games Guide and the accompanying
Green Games Summit. Hosted by
Jo herself, this was the first ever
meeting of the international games
industry to talk about climate
change, and in 2022 Jo took to the
stage at gamescom to accept the
UN’s Playing for the Planet Alliance
for the sustainable design of the
Ukie stand.
A responsible, inclusive industry

28 | Annual Review 2023
Jo’s interest in data has been a
key element in the organisation’s
growth and transformation. Under
her guidance, Ukie has contributed
to a robust body of research about
the UK games industry to help
inform robust