Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support the UK video games industry.

The video games industry is a great success story and we are committed to promoting its growth. Companies in the sector have received £230 million from the UK’s video games tax relief since its introduction in 2014, supporting 480 video games productions that together account for over £1 billion investment in the UK. The UK Games Fund, launched in 2015 with £4 million DCMS support, has further helped 75 businesses and 170 graduates, and has been provided with an additional £1.7 million from government to extend the fund to 2020.

The Creative Industries Sector Deal, published in 2018, also includes a Creative Scale-Up Programme piloting support for early stage creative businesses operating in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and the West of England. The programme is designed to make creative businesses - including games start-ups - better placed to access finance through a programme of intensive business support and investor eco-system development.