Ukie 2022 Annual Review

Annual review
2022

2 | Annual Review 2022
TIM WOODLEY
Ukie Chair, Head of Publishing
Hello Games
GEOFF DRACOTT
Senior Director of UK Accounting
Take 2
PHIL MANSELL
CEO
Jagex
SAMANTHA EBELTHITE
Ukie Vice Chair
Country Manager, UK & Ireland, EA
JONATHAN EDWARDS
Head of Sales
Warner Bros
RANJANI NATARAJAN
Chief Operating Officer
Robot Teddy
LIZ FITZGERALD
Ukie Treasurer, Director of Finance
& Operations – Sony Entertainment UK
CHRISTOPHER GARRATTY
Associate Director, Legal
Activision Blizzard King
ROBERT POSGATE
Legal Counsel & Leadership,
Team Member – Nintendo
JAMES BUTCHER
UK & Ireland Xbox Category
Director – Microsoft
DES GAYLE
Founder & Producer
Altered Gene
HARINDER SANGHA
Operations Director
Sumo Digital
ADAM CAMPBELL
Director of Product
Azoomee
THOMAS HEGARTY
Co-CEO
Roll7
MARÍA SAYANS
CEO
Ustwo
JO COOKE
Marketing Director
Curve Games
ROBERT KINDER
Publishing Director
Payload Studios
JAY SHIN
Director
Arrogant Pixel
JAMES DOBROWSKI
Managing Director
Sharkmob
LI MA
Director of UK & Ireland
Tencent
GISELLE STEWART OBE
Director of UK Corporate Affairs
Ubisoft
CONTENTS
04
Chair’s Report
06
CEO’s Report
08
Policy & Public Affairs
10
Campaigns & Communications
12
Insight and Innovation
14
Membership & commercial services
16
Valuing your intellectual property
18
Making an inclusive and diverse industry
20
UK games Industry and Ukie in numbers
22
Ukie Education and Skills
24
Playing our part in the climate crisis
26
Games London
28
Member Groups
29
Ukie Staff
OUR INITIATIVES
BOARD MEMBERS
Front cover design by Sumo Group
Annual Review 2022 | 3

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TIM WOODLEY
his is my first report as Chair of the Ukie Board and it’s
been an absolute pleasure to take this role on behalf
of the UK industry. Having a well-run trade body which can
authentically speak on behalf of the industry is essential
for the long term success of the sector. Financially, Ukie is
in good health and is well placed to serve the needs of the
industry as it currently stands. Despite the headwinds of
the pandemic, Ukie’s turnover increased by 2% year on year
to reach £2.1m – recording a profit on ordinary activities of
£83,215. Income into the Digital Schoolhouse programme,
from The British Council for a programme of trade events
and from the Department of Work and Pensions for the
administration of the industry’s Kickstart Scheme helped
the organisation record a small profit. This also effectively
counter balanced a 7% increase in the cost of sales, a 5%
increase in administrative expenses (largely a result of
investment into training and HR support) and a minor 2%
decline in membership revenues caused by consolidation.

As a result, this has allowed Ukie to boost its reserves
from £1.52m to £1.6m in 2021 to provide security to the
organisation. Importantly, while membership revenues
slightly lowered Ukie’s overall membership has grown once
again in the past financial year. This year, it reached a new
high of nearly 600 members. This is a significant increase
on our figure of 526 from last year: a measure of the
expansive growth that’s taken place in the games industry
over the past few years. But while our association remains
in good health, we have a responsibility as a Board and as an
industry to ensure it does so. Investment and consolidation
are positives for our sector as a whole, but it presents
challenges to Ukie’s funding model. Globalisation allows our
sector to expand impressively, but can reduce the voice of
our national sector amongst political leaders. And while our
industry has grown enormously, this has widened the remit
of our association significantly – especially when it comes
to explaining our business models to consumers, press and
policy makers. The Board understands this. I am pleased
to have had such support from them in my effort to act as
a critical friend to Ukie’s work. I’m particularly grateful for
the contributions of our outgoing Board members, who have
sacrificed their time and expertise in service of the sector.

But while Ukie is in a good position, we understand that the
pressures it faces makes this the right time for a positive,
forward looking conversation with the industry about what
comes next for Ukie. We’ve benefitted for years from having
a world class association acting in our national industry
interest. Let’s make sure we come together to ensure it
continues to deliver that unbelievable value for you, your
business, and, most importantly, your sector in
the years ahead.
Tim Woodley – Ukie Chair
Head of Publishing – Hello Games
Chair’s Report This is my first report
as Chair of the Ukie board
and it’s been an absolute
pleasure to take this
role on behalf of the
UK industry.

6 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 7
nother 12 months, and another dramatic year in
both the UK and global games industry. The UK
Government finally published its official response to the
loot box call for evidence, amidst more political turmoil.
The response demonstrated how important it is to work
constructively with businesses and with government and
we now have some collective work to do to come to a
satisfactory position for all, taking the protection of minors
at its heart. But this is what great trade associations are
about and I want to thank the policy team and our members
for their considered contributions.

The interest in great UK games business grew with a record-
breaking amount of investment activity. This is positive for
the industry and shows great confidence in British talent.
But we must always be vigilant in ensuring we are nurturing
an inclusive, creatively diverse ecosystem of companies of
all shapes and sizes. As you’ll see throughout this Annual
Report, the sector remains one which epitomises innovation
and strength and one which is held in high regard in policy
and media circles. But there are challenges ahead. The
impact of Brexit is being felt in the recruitment and skills
crisis which we know is the top issue for all businesses in
the industry – not just in the UK. The climate crisis is real.
Increasing cost-of-living is forcing millions into financial
decisions that will impact all of us.
And we once again enter a period of political uncertainty,
where we must explain to yet another Government the
value of supporting our industry at a time when the public
finances are struggling. We are here to help to fight those
battles. And by being part of our coalition of nearly 600
games businesses, you help us to argue authoritatively on
behalf of the whole industry when speaking to Government,
press and the rest of the world. Our focus in the coming
year will be around People, Places, Perceptions and Policy.
We will relentlessly argue for extra investment and skills
support for our sector as one part of building a modern,
thriving economy that delivers value across the country.

We will never lose sight of our guiding mission to make
the UK the best place to make, sell and play games and
interactive entertainment on behalf of you, our members,
and I want to thank you all for your continued faith and
support in Ukie. I want to thank the Board of Directors for
their invaluable support and huge thanks to those who
stepped away this year. Finally, none of what you are about
to read is possible without the committed, excellent Ukie
team. My gratitude goes to all the team members who left
for pastures new and a big welcome to those who joined
over the last 12 months and a big thank you to the whole
of Team Ukie.
Dr Jo Twist OBE – CEO
Ukie
CEO’s Report
The interest in great
UK games business grew
with a record-breaking
amount of investment
activity. This is positive
for the industry and
shows great confidence
in British talent
DR JO TWIST – CEO UKIE

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Policy and
Public Affairs
Ukie’s Policy and Public Affairs
team acts as the industry’s voice
to Government and policymakers.

We promote the needs of our sector, ensuring the
country has policies to help games businesses reach their
full potential. This year has seen the culmination of some
major policy consultations, such as loot boxes , that we’ve
been working on for a number of years.

The lifting of coronavirus restrictions has allowed us to
re-start in person political engagements, with old friends
and new acquaintances. And, to keep things interesting,
we have a new Prime Minister and Cabinet to work with.
We look forward to engaging with them in due course.
Loot boxes
Ukie talks with policymakers at
every level, including MPs, Lords,
Government officials in various
departments and regulators . This
is important to constantly remind
them of the different strengths of the
games sector and its contribution to
society, to innovation and to a modern
economy. We also held several online
roundtables on various topics that our
members should know about including
with the Information Commissioners
Office (ICO) on the Children’s Code.
As we continue to grow as a sector,
we will receive more scrutiny, but we
have a proud track record of working
constructively with government
and policy makers to ensure we are
demonstrating how responsible we
are. The All-Party Parliamentary
Group for Video Games and Esports
which Ukie runs continues to grow.

The current membership is: Alex
Sobel MP, Daniel Zeichner MP,
Jonathan Gullis MP, Sharon Hodgson
MP, Matt Western MP, Owen
Thompson MP, Dehenna Davison
MP, Fleur Anderson MP, Christian
Wakeford MP, Lord Taylor of Warwick
MP, Lord Clement Jones, Lord Vaizey
of Didcot, Luke Evans MP, and Rachel
Hopkins MP. We also just held our first
Westminster Games Week –
a series of exciting and interactive
events held in Westminster to bring
Parliamentarians and the industry
together – following years of delays
caused by the pandemic and snap
elections. We look forward to getting
back to studio visits with MPs around
the country, as well as continuing to
engage with other local leaders.
If you would like a local MP visit, please
get in touch. If you’d like to hear
more about our work, or subscribe
to our fortnightly newsletter, please
contact Dominic Murphy at
dominic@ukie. org.uk
• Online Safety Public Bill Committee
• Intellectual Property Office – Artificial Intelligence
and Intellectual Property
• DCMS – Data: a new direction
• BEIS – Reforming competition and consumer policy
• DCMS Select Committee – the power of influencers
• The Treasury – Online Sales Tax
• DCMS – Online Advertising Programme
Online Safety Bill
Meeting and educating
The last 12 months has also seen
progress with the Online Safety Bill ,
another bit of policy which we have
been involved in for some years It
will require in-scope companies who
run services that facilitate user-to-
user interaction to act against illegal
harms and, in some cases, legal ‘but
harmful’ content. The legislation is
mainly aimed at major social media
companies, but may capture some
games companies, if they meet certain
criteria. The final version of the Bill
was introduced to Parliament this
year. It was assessed by the Online
Safety Public Bill Committee, who we
submitted evidence to. We also met
with MPs, including Kirsty Blackman
MP and Alex Davies-Jones MP , who
mentioned games when speaking
about the Bill in Parliament. We will
continue to work with members, policy
makers and the regulator Ofcom on
the matter.
Over the last 12 months we’ve
responded to the following
consultations and inquiries:
The UK Government began a call
for evidence into loot boxes in
2020 following increasing political
and consumer pressure, including
a manifesto commitment by the
Conservative Party to explore the
matter. The consultation received
32,000 responses from players as
well as 50 submissions from a range
of organisations, including Ukie. DCMS
also commissioned a rapid evidence
assessment of literature on loot boxes.

Throughout this process, we have co-
ordinated with our Policy Group , Loot
Box Group and trade bodies such as
ISFE to prepare our policy response,
in which we advocated for a Technical
Working Group and a renewed
public information campaign . In
July 2022, the Government published
its response and committed to
establishing this group with industry
as opposed to legislating. We look
forward to working with DCMS within
this group in the coming months.

10 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 11
The communications and campaigns team tells the story of the UK
games industry as well as the work Ukie does on the sector’s behalf
to the public and is a critical in how decision makers view our sector
We work with members, non-members partners in the sector and
beyond to boost the reputation of the UK games sector.
We continue to develop our efforts
to make the UK the safest place
to play, and this is something that
has been noticed by government.
Over the past year, we’ve grown the
readership of our parent focused
advice site askaboutgames by
mixing timely analysis of leading
games for families with practical tips
for parents, carers and guardians.
Additionally, we’ve partnered with
a range of organisations to deliver
great advice to a range of audiences
on how to make play work for them.
This includes the social inclusion
organisation Catch-22 and Lloyds
Bank , who we partnered with to
tackle financial fraud.
We’re also in the process of planning
our next phase of our Get Smart
About PLAY responsible play
campaign which continues to be a
critical programme of activities. If
you’d like to support our efforts to
help inform players of all ages about
managing play time and spend, then
get in touch.
Fostering responsible play
Finally, we’ve worked hard to make
sure that we’ve been able to build
bridges to the world outside of games
to help them learn about the best
of our sector. In the course of the
last year alone, we’ve helped the
Science Museum put on a great
Lates dedicated to all things games,
spoke to leading brand executives
at Campaign’s Gaming Summits
about the value of our industry and
contributed to mini conferences
introducing charities to the landscape.
We even received a thank you letter
from Cabinet Office for our work on
public health campaigns during
Covid. We continue to believe that
a partnership approach that brings
games to the wider world helps
demystify the sector and remove
concerns. We’ll look to continue this
in the coming year, with an emphasis
on the benefits this can bring to
industry recruitment.
We’re always on the lookout for
people who are passionate about
communicating the great stories
about games with the wider world.
We know we have a fantastic
opportunity to help mainstream
opinion see games the way we do
and we’d love you to help us seize it.

If you’d like to help with this, or
are interested in finding out more
about the work of our campaigns
and communications team,
contact George Osborn and Louisa
Keight at george@ukie.org.uk and
louisa@ukie.org.uk respectively
for more information.
Building bridges outside of games
Get involved
Ukie continues to be a regular
presence in the industry and
mainstream press. Our work featured
in over 1100 pieces of coverage in
the past 12 months, meaning that we
received over 20 pieces of coverage
every week of the year.

Our biggest story was this year’s
record-breaking industry valuation.
This was covered by over 200 outlets
across the mainstream press and
beyond as interest in the record size
of our market caught the media’s
eye. But we have ensured that Ukie’s
voice has been heard at times where
we have positive stories – such as
on sustainability and equality ,
diversity and inclusion – and on
more challenging news pieces where
we’ve had to hold firm to defend the
reputation of the sector.

Overall, this has led to over 80% of
coverage about Ukie being positive
– benefitting the wider sector in
the process. We maintain strong
relationships with journalists on your
behalf and we’re ready to help you
with challenges you may face.
Pressing issues
Communications
Campaigns &

12 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 13
Our annual consumer market
valuation, produced with GfK
Entertainment, Omdia, Kantar, NPD,
the BFI, Nielsen, ABC and OCC,
released in March. The market
reached a record £7.16bn , up 1.9%
on 2020’s total. A decline in software
sales was countered by strong
growth in console sales. Alongside
our market research, we’re expanding
our knowledge of the companies that
create games in the UK.
We’ve relaunched the UK Games Map
– featuring an overhauled database,
a fresh user experience and new
functionality – with the support of
the BFI, awarding funds from the
National Lottery.
We produced the new map with
The Nursery, Kieran Darcy and Matt
Spall and forged a new academic
partnership with DiscoverUni.

The map currently shows there are
2,658 games companies , 203
service companies and 140
academic institutions offering
games-specific courses in the UK.

It is an important tool to policy makers,
industry professionals, and overseas
investors looking for locations for
businesses because it demonstrates
the strength and diversity of
companies all over the country.

In March we published the results
of the second UK Games Industry
Census , again conducted by Dr Mark
Taylor of the University of Sheffield.

The census of over 3,600 games
industry employees showed marginal
improvements in diversity compared
to 2020 (e.g. +3% female and non-
binary workers, +3% people stating a
sexuality other than heterosexual).

New questions gave insight into how
we want to work post pandemic, with
90% of workers favouring hybrid or
work-from-home in the future .
While 80% of the industry are proud
of where they work, under 40% felt
the industry took bullying and
harassment seriously. We also found
that over 40% of game workers
have been promoted in the past
three years, but autistic people
are promoted significantly
less often .

We also published Organising
Inclusive Informal Events
in the Games Industry – a report by
Dr Anna Ozimek and Carolina
Rueda – in January.
The project, a collaboration between
Ukie, The University of York, SIGN,
Women in Games and UKRI’s
Economic and Social Research
Council, used new research and
interviews with 22 expert practitioners
to demonstrate how informal events
can be more inclusive, releasing
alongside a summarised best
practice guide . In the coming year,
we intend to launch a comprehensive
report with Teesside University
examining onscreen representation
in games over the past decade.
Finally, we’ve worked hard to
provide expertise to a range of
external projects. We are consulting
with DCMS and the Office of National
Statistics (ONS) on the ongoing
revision of Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) Codes to ensure
they are more helpful to games
companies and enable more detailed
economic reporting on the industry.
We provided input to research
projects managed by partners such as
Innovate UK, the BFI, MTM and EGDF
and we represent games on several
working groups managed by the
likes of the BFI, the Creative
Industries Council, IGGI and
StoryFutures Academy.
And we of course are the UK
seller for Games Sales Data
reports in partnership with ISFE.
Find out more about our work
by contacting Colm Seeley at
colm@ukie.org.uk
Measuring our market
Understanding who we are
Behind the scenes
The Insight and Innovation team produces data,
research and reports to help Ukie, the industry
and the wider world make sense of video games.
We’ve also contributed to research
that measures the value these games
companies bring to the UK economy.
In December, the BFI published the
Screen Business Report , compiled
by Olsberg|SPI with Nordicity. The
report found that in 2019, video games
contributed over £5.1bn in GVA to
the UK economy across the entire
value chain and directly supported
20,800 FTEs in development
and publishing. Ukie consulted on
the methodology for games and
provided the underlying dataset from
the UK Games Map. We improved
our understanding of investment
flowing into UK games businesses by
monitoring and recording acquisition
activity in the UK. Between 2019 and
2021, we recorded 36 examples of
inward investment totalling £6.0bn
and 10 examples of British companies
expanding overseas, worth £162m .
Innovation
Insight &

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Over the past 12 months, we’ve trialled new ideas and cautiously returned
to physical events and activities to do this. The year ahead will see a strong
content, networking and event schedule to engage members in useful and
meaningful opportunities.
commercial services
Membership &
Our Hub Crawl was our biggest to
date with 16 events taking place.
Starting virtually in January, we
invited experts in their field to talk
topics such as finance for growth,
NFTs and blockchain in games, and
staff retention.

From April, we introduced our Next
Level Indie physical events which
focused on growth for indie studios
and developers.
Taking us from Dundee and Belfast
to Liverpool and Brighton, the tour
helped us (re)connect with developers
across the country and provide
speaking opportunities for the first
time since lockdown.

We are looking forward to the Hub
Crawl returning 2023 with a new
theme and a continuation of the
hybrid model.
Our successful International Trade
Programme , consolidated under the
banner of Ukie Worldwide continued
to expand this year. We delivered
virtual trade missions focusing on
China , the African continent and
South America . We extended our
inward investment activities, running
two virtual events detailing how and
why a business should establish a
base in the UK with the support of
Ukie members. Finally, we returned
to gamescom in late August with
an impactful trade pavilion with the
theme of Sustainability.

Over 75 UK companies exhibited on
the Ukie stand and generating export
business wins worth millions over
three days. Despite the challenges
of reaching international markets
over the past year, over 280 Ukie
members have taken advantage of the
International Trade Programme.
We also continue our great
partnership with Creative UK and
Creative Enterprise to deliver key
Scale Up programmes to help the
next generation of businesses. We
will continue to expand this work and
we will be launching a new targeted
accelerator programme in the
coming months.
Being a member of Ukie means being
connected to 581 companies at the
forefront of the UK industry . Our
priority is to foster opportunities for
members to connect with each other.

In 2022 we revamped the Insider
newsletter, making it more interesting
and relevant for members to share
discounts, offers, and updates.
We held a series of roundtables , in
partnership with members and the
Ukie team. Roundtables provide an
excellent forum to meet members
and share expertise, with recent
successful roundtables about
discussing staff retention and
planning for growth encouraging us
to arrange more later this year. Our
Playable Futures series, supported
by Sumo Group and Diva Agency, told
the stories of leading figures in the
industry in GI Biz and beyond. We are
looking to expand the series further in
the coming weeks and months

Additionally, we are organising a new
video series for Ukie:TV to interview
our partner members so that their
advice can easily assist games
companies with a range of business
products and services.
Our Dev:Pub service has been
adapted to become Ukie:Connect .
It connects developers to publishers
and investors via a matchmaking
system as part of our membership
service, providing another way to
meet through the Ukie network.
For those who offer work for hire
services, we updated our work for
hire database – allowing members
to contact us with work requests and
quickly receive information about
work for hire studios who would be
suitable for the job. We’re happy to
add members who offer external
work services at any time.
We’ve continued commercial efforts to bring our members affordable and reliable
services. We will be maintaining deals with FX, legal and training providers. We
are looking to add HR, additional training providers and financial partnerships
within the next year.

If you’d like to hear more from our team, please contact Sam Collins and
Helen Johnson through sam@ukie.org.uk and helen@ukie.org.uk
Hub Crawl
International & National Trade Programme
Member-to-Member
Commercial Outreach
At the heart of Ukie is its members. Together, our
members help drive the UK video games industry to
great achievements and recognition on the domestic and
international stage. Our team are here to assist members,
listening to your needs and responding accordingly.

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Trademarks and marketplaces
There have been many changes to the intellectual property landscape
this past year. Our members have faced issues with non-fungible tokens
(NFTs) , merchandise, cheats, clone apps and scam videos and we have
adapted our work to provide unique solutions to fit specific business
needs to continue to protect IP in the industry.
intellectual property
Valuing your
Over the past year, we have
reported more and more trademark
infringements for games – especially
on App Stores. We recommend
registering a trademark for your game
to counter this. It helps remove and
counter the simple clones that don’t
even change the name. It can also
help when a named in-game item is
cloned by making it easier for a store
to search and take down
infringing content.

There are now dedicated
marketplaces offering NFTs but
many feature IP infringing content.
That’s why we have built web crawlers
to look for infringing items. Early
detection and removal keeps the
marketplaces free from unauthorised
uses of IP, protecting members – and
their ability to promote and sell items
or collections of their own – in the
process. Five years ago, we launched a
web crawler to find infringing links that
let people download games illegally. To
date, we have removed over 2 million
links – a success rate of 80% on links
we’ve identified. Daily reporting
from the service heavily disrupts
infringing sites by removing most of
the links within 24 hours – disrupting
downloaders in the process. This is
included as part of your membership
and more companies that use the
services and we encourage you to
look into it.
Combatting cybercrimes
Cybercrime is on the increase. We
work closely with the National Crime
Agency (NCA) who inform us about
the latest threats from Ransomware
and hacking groups.

But we can also help the NCA further
if companies who are targeted
are willing to confidentially share
information with them. Attacks
are aimed at multiple companies
so any data collected can prevent
further attacks or help identify the
perpetrators.
If you would to know more about how
to protect your company against
cyber threats, share information
about cyber attacks or want to find
out more about our work, contact
Mo Ali at mo@ukie.org.uk
Our members have
faced issues with
non-fungible tokens
(NFTs), merchandise ,
cheats, clone apps and
scam videos

18 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 19
and diverse industry
Making an inclusive
#RaisetheGame
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) work at
Ukie aims to inspire meaningful change in the UK
games industry through tangible actions, cultural
impact and business support.
#RaiseTheGame is a holistic,
industry-wide initiative managed
and facilitated by Ukie. It is designed
to support equality, inclusion and
diversity across all games businesses,
companies and organisations,
regardless of size and position in
industry, whatever stage of the
journey they are at.

We celebrated two years of
#RaiseTheGame at this year’s
Census launch , where the initiative
has achieved its target of reaching
200 organisations covering 50%
of the industry headcount in
early 2022. It also received wider
recognition through engagement
with external organisations, winning
diversity initiative of the year at the
Gayming Awards and receiving a
nomination for this year’s National
Diversity Awards .

#RaiseTheGame also partnered with
a number of events such as Animex
and Develop: Brighton to further
spread the word about the initiative
and put on a range of activities.
The pledge partners are also working
together to produce useful resources
for businesses across the sector
including an EDI toolkit and a shared
calendar of culturally diverse events.
Finally, Ukie itself and our Board
of Directors is made up of diverse
individuals and is an organisation
that seeks to build an inclusive
environment both within and
throughout the wider industry.

Whether it is supporting cultural
celebrations meaningful to the team,
providing mental health support
through the Spill service, Vitality
healthcare and training up Mental
Health First Aiders within the team
and committing to ensuring all our
business activities have inclusion
at the heart of them. It’s also about
developing the teams of our members
and people in the games industry too,
may that be through training, learning
and development opportunities or
diversity data monitoring. We aim to
set the standard for the industry and
meet it ourselves.

If you’d like to find out more
about Ukie EDI, or get involved
in our work, simply email Dom
Shaw via dom@ukie.org.uk
The member group acts as forum
for members to discuss their efforts
to support, promote and prioritise
all aspects of EDI.This helps us to
further consider EDI within games by
looking at it in a wider context, helping
us create a more diverse, fair and
inclusive industry along the way.
The group consists of over 100
individuals from more than 70
members from developers,
publishers, service providers and
more – providing us with invaluable,
and representative, perspectives
from across games.
#RaiseTheGame Diversity Pledge Our teams and people
Ukie Members EDI Group

THE UK GAMES
INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS
Consumer games
market valuation

£7.16bn
+1.90%
Industry’s economic
contribution
£5.26bn
in gross value added

581
Ukie members

662
Video Game
Ambassadors

17
Ukie team members

1100+
pieces of press
coverage

75
Digital Schoolhouses
1465 teachers
50,770 students

14
members of the All Party
Parliamentary Group for
Games and Esports

2 million
IP infringing
links removed

Number of games
businesses
2658
games businesses

Number of Full
Time Equivalents
across supply chain
73,300
Investment into UK
games businesses
£7.7bn
since 2017
300
Green Games
Summit attendees

£40m
business wins from
Ukie Worldwide
200+
#RaiseTheGame
pledge partners

IN NUMBERS
20 | Annual Review 2022

22 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 23
The Ukie Education Member Group
goes from strength to strength. Over
60 members from across academia
and industry represented in quarterly
discussions about key issues our
industry faces. From policy changes
to Post 16 qualifications to exploring
how we can better prepare students
for working in the industry, the group
has discussed best practices for
industry engagement with students. It
has also heard from adjacent sectors,
such as the VFX Industry’s work with
the Institute of Technology, to inspire
further action.
Ukie Students
programme

The Ukie Students membership
programme, supported by Epic
Games, High-Rez and Sharkmob, in
its ninth year reaches a network of
over 3,350 students and lecturers
across 33 academic institutions.
The programme ensured student
members received opportunities, even
through the worst of the pandemic.
The first was a remote game jam
we delivered in partnership with
Sharkmob . Collab-Jam saw teams
of students from different countries
collaborating together remotely. The
winning team, made up of students
Video Games Ambassadors

Over the past year the Video Games
Ambassadors (VGA) programme,
run in partnership with Into Games,
has grown significantly. The network
of volunteers has increased by a
third to a total of 662, while the
number of opportunity providers
has grown by over 50% to 270.
Our volunteer diversity statistics
compare favourably to figures from
Ukie Education
Member Group
the industry census. 42.1% of VGAs
are from underrepresented genders,
while 21.5% of the network is ethically
diverse. We are preparing to launch
the Student VGAs to connect Further
and Higher Education students with
our opportunity providers. We ran a
soft pilot of this scheme at the Digital
Schoolhouse Festival of Play, where
from Staffordshire University in
the UK and National University of
Theatre and Film in Romania, won
a trip one of Sharkmob’s studios
in either London or Stockholm.
We also ran student conferences
online in November 2021 and April
2022. We welcomed speakers from
companies such as Outright Games,
Gfinity, Ubisoft, Rogue Sun, Arrogant
Pixel and nDreams, who covered a
range of business, development and
educational topics and we cannot
wait to get back to face to
face conferencing.
The Kickstart scheme concluded
earlier this year. It was an initiative
from Government that aimed to get
16-24 year olds into work through
the pandemic through jobs in their
local centres. Ukie partnered with
Into Games to administer the scheme
and the games industry provided
Kickstart Scheme
a team of eight enthusiastic student
volunteers helped at the event and
advocated for the study of
STEAM subjects.
We also launched the first ever VGA
Awards to celebrate the input of
our ambassadors, with the results
announced at our 2022 AGM.
effective support for the scheme,
with 44 studios employing nearly
150 16-24 year olds across a range
of development, commercial and
marketing roles. We’d like to thank
all studios willing to bring on board
a Kickstartee to support their
businesses. We will be exploring
ways to lobby Government for similar
support for games businesses in the
months and years ahead.

If you’d like to hear more about the
work of the Ukie Education team,
please contact Shahneila Saeed
at shahneila@ukie.org.uk
Digital Schoolhouse has grown
following the pandemic, with a 47%
increase in the number of schools and
colleges delivering the programme.
Seventy-five schools and colleges
have been trained to deliver our free
creative and play-based computing
workshops across the UK, including
our first ever Schoolhouse in Wales
and Scotland. We continue to pioneer
new ideas.

This year has seen the first Libraries
joining the programme to deliver DSH
workshops to the wider community,
thanks to a successful funding bid
to the Arts Council, as well as our
inaugural Festival of Play in Salford
thanks to funding support from
EA. This increases the reach of the
programme into communities of need
which fall outside the formal education
sector. We finally saw the return of
physical events for our annual Super
Smash Bros . Ultimate Team Battle
esports competition.

We also held the country’s first
nationwide Junior tournament ,
bringing esports into primary schools
at regional events in Swindon and
Manchester. Collectively, the
programme has supported over
50,770 students and 1465 teachers
from over 943 schools across the
country – its highest reach yet.
Digital Schoolhouse
and Skills
Ukie Education
Ukie Education encompasses all of our organisation’s skills
and education programmes. Its aim is to help develop industry
talent throughout the pipeline, from school aged children to
industry professionals.

24 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 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
part in the climate crisis
Playing our part
Over the last 12 months we’ve seen more evidence
than ever before of the impact that humans have on the
environment. We have continued to support the games
industry in understanding how we can positively
influence climate change and conservation.
Last year, we published our Green
Games Guide which outlined how
games businesses can start their
journey to becoming net-zero and
how we can use our reach to billions
of players to inspire change around
the world. As well as committing to be
Carbon Net Zero ourselves by 2023,
one of the most important roles that
we as your trade body can play is
build knowledge and raise awareness
throughout the industry about
what businesses can do. We have
continued to work closely with the,
UN-supported, Playing for the Planet
Alliance , joining in with their amazing
work on the Green Game Jam and
furthering the sector’s knowledge
about how to de-carbonise. We are
also exploring creating a new report
or resource to build on the work of the
Green Games Guide .
In terms of raising awareness, we’ve
been speaking to the industry and
the public about what we’re doing
including at the Science Museum,
Develop , at the games industry stand
at COP26 and at our sustainable stand
at this year’s gamescom – including
winning the inaugural gamescom
goes green awardduring the show’s
Opening Night Live event.
Our flagship event was the first ever
Green Games Summit , held at the
end of last year in collaboration
with ISFE and UN Environment
Programme’s Playing for the Planet
Alliance and sponsored by Sony
Interactive Entertainment. Hosted
remotely over two days on the 20th
and 21st of October, the summit
brought the international games
sector for the first time together to
share knowledge, discuss and shape
the industry’s approach to the climate
crisis and sustainability ahead of last
year’s, UK-hosted, COP26. Over 20
speakers from the worlds of games
and climate science took to the virtual
stage in front of 300 hundred people
from games businesses all over
the world.
They helped our audience to
understand how they can become
more environmentally sustainable,
sharing their latest innovative climate
aware activities, activations and
initiatives to inspire change
around the world. You can still watch
all our fantastic talks on Ukie’s
YouTube channel and, following the
success of the last event, we will be
scheduling another Green Games
Summit for later this year.

We’re also seeing government taking
an interest in how the creative
industries can play a role in hitting
the UK’s net zero targets by 2050
and we’re representing the industry’s
voice in forums like the government’s
Creative Industries Council .
There is plenty of work still to be
done. If you want to get directly
involved in the work we are doing on
climate change and conservation,
please contact Daniel Wood
via dan@ukie.org.uk for
more information.

26 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 27
The 2022 London Games Festival
returned for its seventh edition
from 1-10 April, delivering a hybrid
programme of in-person events and
activity, complimented with an online
games showcase, playable demo
streams and industry networking.
The opening weekend saw the launch
of the Trafalgar Square Games
Exhibition, an outdoor showcase of
the festival’s exciting and extensive
programme. Returning to this iconic
London landmark after two years
away, Trafalgar Square set the stage
for the 2022 Ensemble Exhibition
which celebrated and spotlighted
this year’s impressive and creative
cohort. It was also an opportunity
to promote the 2022 LGF Official
Selection, with eye-catching artwork
and descriptions of over 30 brand-
new, unreleased games on show for
the public to check out! The LGF
Official Selection was a new campaign
launched at the last festival and is
again supported by an interactive
digital site.
The Games Exhibition was completed
with a curated collection of archive
photographs looking through the
history of games and play in the UK;
underlining its cultural growth and
impact on our society, as well as
there being a shortlisted selection
of the popular Virtual Photography
Challenge, with some spectacular
images of in-game photography
highlighting this fast-growing artform.
A key aim was to keep improving the
online accessibility to the festival
as well as encourage delegates to
attend physical events across the city.
This year Games London created a
new digital events site and meeting
platform to showcase the full
festival programme. With an offering
of free tickets to VIP access, the digital
platform allowed delegates to login,
view the full LGF schedule and access
ticketed events including LGF’s Next
Level Conference as well as partner-
run events such as Now Play This,
BAFTA Games Awards, and the newly
established W.A.S.D consumer show.
The new digital platform also allowed
industry delegates to create online
profiles to promote their business,
schedule meetings, and network with
other users across the 10-day festival.
LGF’s flagship B2B event, The Games
Finance Market took place in a hybrid
format with participants able once
again to attend two days of face-to-
face meetings at a designated area at
the W.A.S.D event at Tobacco Dock.
The finance market was also
integrated into the new digital
platform allowing participants to
meet virtually online if they preferred.

The market featured 50+ major global
funds and publishers meeting pre-
selected studios from London, UK and
around the world looking to get new
games financed. The London Games
Festival is part of Games London, an
initiative delivered by Film London
and Ukie and funded by the Mayor
of London.
If you’d like to hear more about the
work of the Games London team,
please email Michael French at
michael.french@games.london
Games London

28 | Annual Review 2022 Annual Review 2022 | 29
UKIE STAFF 2022
Ukie’s member
groups allow Members
to contribute ideas and
oversight on key areas of
the organisation’s work .

Run by individual team
members, and chaired
by members, these
groups provide regular
communications and
host regular meetings to
keep you informed – and
allow you to participate
– in relevant discussions,
debates and activities.
Communications
The Communications group looks
at Ukie’s communications output,
with particular focus on how the
organisation interacts with press
and manages publicity campaigns.
Administered by: George Osborn
Contact: george@ukie.org.uk

Education
The Education group helps to
steer Ukie’s education initiatives.
Membership is open to people in
games interested in education,
as well as practitioners in schools
and universities.
Administered by: Shahneila Saaed
Contact: shaneila@ukie.org.uk
Esports
The esports group shapes Ukie’s
position on the growing sector. The
group’s priorities are to drive the
commercial success of esports in the
UK, promote the unique contribution
of the companies that operate within it
and to support and shape
policy recommendations.
Administered by: Sam Collins
Contact: sam@ukie.org.uk
Equality, Diversity
and Inclusion
The EDI group is dedicated to
improving equality, diversity
and inclusion within the industry
and shapes Ukie’s approach on
EDI matters. It also supports the
#RaiseTheGame pledge work.
Administered by: Dom Shaw
Contact: dom@ukie.org.uk
Intellectual Property (IP)
The IP group supports Ukie’s work
protecting the Intellectual Property of
games businesses operating in the UK.
Administered by: Mo Ali
Contact: mo@ukie.org.uk
Mobile
This group helps provide unique
insight for Ukie from the mobile
games industry, helping shape
specific approaches for mobile only
issues and ensuring a voice for the
sector elsewhere.
Administered by : George Osborn
Contact: george@ukie.org.uk
Policy and Public Affairs
The Policy and Public Affairs group
feeds into Ukie’s work with policy
makers and provides information
about developments in industry policy.
Administered by: Dominic Murphy
Contact: dominic@ukie.org.uk
Sustainability
The Sustainability group meets
to discuss, share information and
drive forward the UK games sector’s
response to climate change and
sustainability.
Administered by: Dan Wood
Contact: dan@ukie.org.uk
DR JO TWIST
CEO
jo@ukie.org.uk
doctoe
Annual Review 2022 | 29
SAM COLLINS
Head of Membership
sam@ukie.org.uk
ukiesam
HELEN JOHNSON
Membership Officer
helen @ukie.org.uk
ukiehelen
SIÂN MAYHALL-PURVIS
Education Programme Coordinator
sian @ukie.org.uk
@UkieSian
MARK WARD
Community Outreach Officer
mark @ukie.org.uk
@Ukie_Mark
Groups
Member
ESTELLE ASHMAN
Curriculum Content Developer
estelle@ukie.org.uk
compsci_geek
KIRSTIE RUSSELL
Office Manager
kirstie @ukie.org.uk
UkieKirstie
KATIE DAVIES
Accounts and Finance Officer
katie@ukie.org.uk
LOUISA KEIGHT
Communications and Content Officer
louisa@ukie.org.uk
@ukie_louisa
DOMINIC MURPHY
Head of Policy and Public Affairs
dominic@ukie.org.uk
SHAHNEILA SAEED
Communications & Programme
Manager – Digital Schoolhouse
shahneila@ukie.org.uk
shahneila1
DOM SHAW
EDI Coordinator
dom@ukie.org.uk
dominicshaw94
COLM SEELEY
Insight and Innovation Manager
colm @ukie.org.uk
ColmSeeley
GRACE SHIN
Policy and Public Affairs Manager
grace @ukie.org.uk
@ukie_grace
GEORGE OSBORN
Head of Communications
george@ukie.org.uk
ukie_george
We would like to say a special thank you to Ukie team members who have moved on to new and exciting roles
over the last 12 months. Thanks to Sophia Aker, Leon Cli, Luke Hebblethwaite, Laura Martin and Tim Scott
for all the work theyve done on behalf of the industry.
@ukielex
MO ALI
IP Coordinator
mo@ukie.org.uk
ukieluke
@ukiesam @ukielex

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