Game development is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. In 2022, the value of the global game-making sector was rated at around £267 billion, and UK companies are heavily involved in shaping and developing this burgeoning industry.
There are many reasons why the UK, and London in particular, offers a good base for companies trying to break into this sector. The UK has a strong reputation for the quality of its game development education and training, through the variety of courses available at universities and the array of independent game developers who were among the pioneers of the industry.
Over the years, there has also been significant support from the government for this sector, in the form of financial incentives and the encouragement of inward investment. Naturally, London, as one of the world’s major financial and cultural centers, is home to many of the nation’s top game companies.
Firefly Studios
One of the best-known gaming developers in the world, Firefly Studios has a presence in Connecticut, United States, and Aberdeen, besides its studio in London.
This innovative gaming creator is perhaps best known for the phenomenally successful Stronghold series, which has in total sold more than six million copies globally, and Stronghold Kingdoms, which has achieved the notable feat of becoming the most popular free-to-play strategy title on Steam, accumulating an astonishing four million players.
Set up in 1999 by Eric Ouellette who worked on Lords of the Realm, and the creator of Caesar, Simon Bradbury, it specialises in MMO, mobile and strategy games and has a worldwide reputation, employing over 40 people across its three locations.
Hutch
Since the launch of the first smartphone, mobile gaming has become a phenomenally successful sector within the gaming industry, and Hutch is one of several London-based game developers thriving in this dynamic market.
The company’s main studio is based in Shoreditch, and it also has studios in Canada and Scotland, employing more than a hundred people. Known as an innovator within the mobile gaming sector, Hutch has developed several successful titles, including Rebel Racing, Top Drives, F1 Manager, and Hot Wheels: Race Off, and in 2020 was voted among the Best Places to Work at the annual gamesindustry.biz awards.
Revolver Gaming
Within the wider gaming sector, the online casino industry has also been thriving. The first online casinos emerged in the 1990s and now there are thousands of regulated online sites around the world, offering everything from retro-style fruit machine games to bingo and live casino, the best of which are detailed on Casino Sherlock and similar sites, which provide guidance to casino players.
As with video games, casino games require intensive effort, skill, and ingenuity to create and some of the best casino game development studios are based in London, including Revolver Gaming.
Revolver has built its reputation on developing a series of high-end and innovative casino games, distributed through a cutting-edge RGS system. The games are developed using HTML5, which enables crucial cross-platform compatibility, and Revolver also provides services for casino operators who want to tailor their gaming platforms.
Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive is one of the best-known game developers in the world. Better known as SI Games, it is the company behind the phenomenally successful football franchise Football Manager, which has earned global fame for its accurate recreation of the experience of managing a football club.
SI Games, which also produces a successful ice hockey management simulation: NHL Eastside Hockey Manager, is based in London and employs over 100 people in its UK game studio. Beyond that, however, it relies on a global network of more than 1,300 researchers, who provide the crucial information needed to build its comprehensive database of international teams and players.
Marmalade Game Studio
Marmalade Games is a game development studio that has found a successful niche in the video gaming world, combining the popularity of digital gaming with the resurgent worldwide interest in board games. The company has focused on creating high-quality mobile versions of classic board games including Battleship, Cluedo, and Game Of Life, all of which have been highly rated by players.
It also developed several original games, including one of the world’s most popular mobile sudoku games, Sudoku 4 Two, and has expanded from its London headquarters, setting up a second gaming studio in Lisbon. Focusing on the digitally distributed market, it is one of the most successful UK-based game developers in 2024.
Decartel
Decartel is one of the established game development companies, with more than 15 years’ experience of operating in the gaming industry. It brings together the skills of game developers from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise and is focused on the entire game development process from the initial ideas, through the designing and coding to the release of the game and ongoing engagement with the gaming community.
It has developed a reputation for excellence and lists several well-known gaming companies as clients, including Riot Games, and has contributed to many top-performing titles including World Of Warships, Metaverse, and Malice.
Media Molecule
Launched in 2006, Media Molecule is a London-based gaming developer with a workforce of over 150 employees. The company has produced some well-known gaming properties, including the Little Big Planet and Tearaway franchises.
It has also been working on a new gaming platform known as Dreamiverse. The idea behind this is that players can join a game universe that is continually expanding, and in which they can create their own games as well as play games designed by other community members.
Media Molecule was acquired by Sony Entertainment in 2010 and since then has been developing innovative gaming content focused on player creativity, as part of the PlayStation Studios division of the global Sony organisation.
Feral Interactive Limited
Established in 1996, Feral Interactive is one of the oldest companies on this list, and was initially created to bring games from other platforms to the Mac. After several years of focusing on this area of development, the company started to port games for Linux, Android, Nintendo Switch, and Windows, and over the years has partnered with Sega, Warner Bros, Codemasters, Square Enix, and others.
Created and operated by dedicated gaming fans, and based in South-West London, it has earned a reputation as one of the best publishers of Mac games in the world.
Bossa Studios
Bossa Studios is one of the most innovative of the London gaming studios with a reputation for producing quirky, original games. Launched in 2010, and based in the so-called Silicon Roundabout in East London, it has gone through several changes of ownership and has had its share of controversy, including job losses earlier this year, but it continues to operate as an inventive game design studio.
Its best-known games are the Surgeon Simulator series and I Am Bread, launched in 2013 and 2015 respectively, although it began as a producer of browser games, including Merlin, which was based on the TV show of the same name, and Monstermind, which won a BAFTA in 2012.