Scotland’s Games Action Plan V2

The second version of Scotland’s Games Action Plan is now available for industry consultation, feedback and review.

The plan is a series of recommendations to the Scottish Government to increase knowledge and understanding of the games ecosystem across all levels of government, build more dedicated support for it, and create a more connected, collaborative, and successful games sector in Scotland (it’s the first step in the creation of a National Games Strategy).

The goal is very simple: build Scotland from the fifth-largest games cluster in the UK to one of the top five worldwide.

Following a year of discussions with stakeholders, organisations, and partners across Scotland, the UK and worldwide, the Action Plan has been redrafted with a new focus on five key strategic recommendations.

Five Key Strategic Recommendations

These recommendations address all of the key findings from the workshops held in 2024, along with all of the comments, feedback and excellent input received for the initial draft of the Action Plan. It’s also far more deliverable and practical than the initial 50+ recommendations from the earlier version.

The recommendations address each of the key areas we identified as limiting the potential of the games ecosystem in Scotland:

1. Formal Recognition and Strategic Alignment: Position games at the heart of Scotland’s future.
2. Dedicated Funding and Investment: Create a dedicated Games Investment Fund to fuel growth and innovation.
3. Skills and Talent Development: Invest in a comprehensive education and skills pipeline to nurture talent from classroom to career.
4. Industry Collaboration and Cluster Development: Strengthen connections between game studios, educational institutions, and other sectors.
5. Promotion and Visibility: Raise the global profile of Scottish games and studios.

Please Read

ALL of the above recommendations are broken down in detail, with supporting evidence across the whole document. The Action Plan has been written as a single point of reference. With the appendices, definitions, etc. it clocks in at 30 pages. It’s been designed to be read by people who do not necessarily know the games sector. So there is a lot of context, background, case studies, etc.

I know it’s a big chunk of text. However, it’s been ordered with the key information, recommendations, etc. up front. So if you work in games, you’re probably OK to focus on the recommendations and skip the appendices, definitions, etc. – for now.

Next Steps

The ACTION PLAN is open for comments and feedback now. I will also be organising online sessions for discussion around the plan and to ensure I hear from stakeholders across the whole games community. Dates for those sessions will be published in the next day or so.

There is also a dedicated Action Plan Discord Channel where you can talk about the plan, ask questions and hear from others – including me. April 22nd.

I’m working with a Graphic Designer to turn this working text file into a far more accessible and easily digested document. I’m also reaching out to partners to get updated data and information on some of the numbers and figures used across the Plan.

If you have an idea for images, data, graphics, tables, charts, etc. within the plan, do please let me know.

The goal from this point is to get it to the point where it can be presented to government as quickly as possible and published (with a launch event) early in the next financial year.

Please Help!

This is the first step in what I believe will be transformative change for the games sector in Scotland. The support and feedback from across the sector to date has been fantastic. The new approach and the five key strategic recommendations alone would create an entirely new environment for games and give us a completely different level of understanding.

I know it has been a long process (far longer than I initially planned), but we’re very close to a final version of the plan. Please do take some time to read the plan and I hope to speak to you directly at one of the forthcoming feedback and Q&A sessions.

Thank you,

~Brian

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