The value of the rapidly growing £4 billion worth gaming sector in the UK is about to triple in the next three years. A new report has revealed that it will soon hit £10 billion value within the next three years. According to a report from the human resources firm, Robert Walters, the gaming industry is the only industry in the entertainment and leisure sector that stood against the negatives of the health crisis and made more money than the film, music, and video industries combined, while the world stayed at home because of the current situation.
In fact, digital downloading witnessed a 67% week on week increase by the end of the first quarter, while the sales department witnessed a 218% increase during the same period, and this demand was amplified when the call for social distancing was made around March this year. You can find the latest igaming reports and statistics here, as well as other gambling guides which can help you learn more about the casino industry as a whole
According to the Senior Manager Technology at Robert Walters, Tom Chambers, the games sector has been hugely affected by the health crisis. In a society where leisure and hospitality, national sporting events, and blockbusters premiers were all halted, the majority of the generations of people out there embraced gaming as one of the most accessible past times during the stay at home period.
He went further to say that with the fact that people can now get hold of games on the PCs, apps and mobile devices, the number that accessed games on the web was at an all-time high, compared to when people could not access games without a console.
Furthermore, gaming became exceptional in the area of interaction, and the level of increase in new users became very substantial because of people who were seeking for a way to overcome the social limitation and find a way to play together and interact with their family and friends. The biggest revelation of this is through the number of people above 60 years of age who got involved in gaming in the bid to play with their grandchildren and also keep their brain sharp.
An Increase in Vacancies
Irrespective of the health crisis or current health situation of the world, the number of vacancies in gaming companies has continued to increase, with a 20% year on year on all departments, but with the IT department having up to 43%.
This year in particular, game programming roles (+154%), artist/creative (+59%), audio/video specialists (+76%), developers (+91%), and project management (+140%) are all expected to explode, as the industry tries to meet with the global demand.
According to Mr. Chambers, we may still see the UK as a young sector in the industry, but the fact remains that it now sits pretty on the 6th position in the list of the largest gaming markets in the world.
He went ahead to say that the speedy growth of the jobs market is a major indicator of how successful game development and sales has been in the UK. Though the population of the UK may not be as huge as that of her competitors, she has always given a good account of herself, especially at developing technology and harboring some of the best talents in the gaming world.
As a sign that the UK market keeps maturing, most of the gaming companies are stepping up recruitment into the marketing and sales departments in the bid to monetize their products more appropriately. In fact, the past year had a 25% increase in marketing vacancies, as against the previous year.
The hiring efforts within the gaming industry had been dominated by the IT sector in the past years. This sector has always taken up at least 75% of all the advertised roles in the past. But the percentage has dropped to 68.
Against the dwindling numbers in the IT sector, the support and back office sector has grown in prominence. Here, you have up to 13% of the advertised roles falling within the PR or marketing sector. The next is the business or office support sector, which now has 5%, while the human resources sector takes up 5% too. 3% goes to the accounting sector, while 2% of the jobs go to the supply chain and procurement department.
