West Midlands gaming sector plans for the future as lockdown growth stalls

Gaming firms look ahead as lockdown growth stalls For years, computer game development felt like a growth industry for the Midlands, with successful firms devising big franchises which won a worldwide audience.

But, like many entertainment industries, the seemingly endless choice for what people do with their spare time has made competition for gamers' eyeballs stiffer than ever.

Codemasters, based in Warwickshire and Birmingham and owned by EA, are responsible for much of that success in an area thought to bring £6bn a year to the UK economy.

The firm developed the Formula One game, but is aware the sector as a whole has fallen on hard times after a spike in demand during pandemic.

The UK's gaming industry is globally respected, employing an estimated 76,000 people, and thought to be bigger than the film sector.

Website Obsidian, which tracks redundancies across the sector, has estimated that about 32,000 people have lost their job worldwide over the last two-and-a-half years - 13,000 in 2024 alone.

Microsoft and Sony have laid off hundreds of staff in 2024, but smaller studios have also been affected and say investment is drying up.

Ian Flatt, vice-president of Codemasters, said the industry must anticipate change and should try to think ahead.

"There's always changes in what people want to do with their entertainment, you're competing against such a variety," he said.

"I think for some they saw that growth during the Covid time and kept extrapolating through that but realistically that was a moment in time.

"The Formula One game is one of the most critically, highest-rated sports games and it's predominant base is right here in Birmingham, along with support from the team in Southam.

"The F1 licence allows us to be really creative, the games are always about the people who make them and the talent. We're always thinking at least two years ahead."

George Humphreys, from Wolverhampton and a software engineer at Codemasters said: "There's a lot of people I know that have had move for their jobs, I'm lucky I've secured my job locally to where I live.

"That was one of my biggest concerns, it's tough to find jobs at the moment.

"My advice to people would be just to keep making things, get your name out there, you'll get noticed."

According to UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE), there are more than 2,000 gaming businesses in Britain and ahead of this summer's election called on the government to invest more in the sector and support developers, through tax reliefs.

However, despite the challenges gaming companies are still prepared to invest in the region.

Facepunch Studios, also based in Birmingham, is responsible for titles such as Garry's Mod and Rust, and says it is still actively hiring despite the contraction in the sector.

"The key for us really was to not hire loads of people in a panic, but to try and actually work out how we do this in a structured and planned way," Ashley Cook, marketing manager at the firm said.

"We're still growing post-pandemic, we're seeing more and more players in Rust so have more reason to invest in the game."

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