The momentum behind Level Up Scotland has reached the floor of the Scottish Parliament. Following our dual-city launch earlier this week, Michael Marra MSP has officially lodged a motion (S6M-20521) calling for a dedicated Members’ Business debate on the National Action Plan for Scotland's Games Sector. The motion recognises the sector’s "growing importance to Scotland’s economy" and specifically highlights our goal of scaling the industry to…

Developed by the Scottish Games Network, the Level Up Scotland – Games Action Plan is the country’s first unified strategy for gaming and sets out a bid to create the UK’s first “games supercluster” n...

Scotland stands at a pivotal moment for its digital and creative future. Level Up Scotland is a bold blueprint for transformational change, designed to move the games sector from an unsupported ‘secre...

Level Up: Scotland's Games Action Plan: Today, at 09:30 in a room at CodeBase Edinburgh filled with MSPs, and again at 13:00 in the Abertay CyberQuarter in Dundee, we are doing something that has never been done before in the history of our sector. We are handing over a unified vision for the future of games in Scotland. When I started this journey in November 2023, I knew the Scottish games ecosystem was the country's…

For the last two years, we’ve been talking. We’ve had town halls, one-on-ones, surveys, feedback, and deep-dive sessions. I’ve gathered over a thousand data points and had huge amounts of feedback from hundreds of you - developers, educators, and entrepreneurs - about what the Scottish games ecosystem needs to grow and thrive. Finally, the talking is finished. The work is done.

As we head rapidly for the holidays, it's time for the Scottish Games Network (me) to do what we always promise: be the 'Honest Architect' for our ecosystem. That means celebrating the victories, acknowledging the foundations we’ve laid, and - most importantly - address the real structural challenges waiting for us in the new year. 2025 has been, frankly, turbulent. We’ve seen national highs - like some of the excellent events springing up across the whole of Scotland, the new talent support from organisations such as SGDA, Game Space (and SGN) - but also the deep, personal impact of global layoffs and job losses across our whole community.

The Scottish Games Network is calling on the community to support a unique crowdfunding campaign forAdam Clarke, an Orkney-based game developer who has secured a place in the Scottish Games Developers Association (SGDA) Accelerator Programme. While earning a spot in the prestigious accelerator is a huge win for the developer and a testament to the talent emerging from all across Scotland, the high and often prohibitive cost of travel and accommodation from Orkney has created an unexpected financial barrier to Adam's participation.

As many of you know, I recently joined the board of the British Games Institute (BGI), the charity that runs the National Videogames Museum (NVM). Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to explore the incredible work they do and, crucially, the challenges they face: how to fund an ambitious, national cultural mission in a sector that often focuses purely on commercial metrics and the enormous bottom line of the consumer market.

A unique opportunity for Scottish football fans to build their ultimate dream team has arrived, as Dundee-based developer 532 Design announces the launch of Crowd Legends: Club Football in partnership with the Scottish Premier Football League (SPFL). The new mobile game allows fans to mix and match today’s top SPFL players with the League’s all-time greats, pitting squads featuring legends like Henrik Larsson, Paul Gascoigne, and Russell Latapy against modern-day stars in daily crowd-voted matches.

Applications are officially open for Split Screen, a pioneering programme led by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) Innovation Studio, that explores how digital innovation and Artificial Intelligence are reshaping theatre, dance, music, and live performance. This five-day programme, supported by the Scottish Government’s Ecosystem Fund, is a perfect encapsulation of the More Than Games mindset. It offers a unique opportunity for game developers, digital artists, and creative technologists to work directly with performers and theatre professionals, applying their expertise in interactivity, game engine technology, and digital storytelling to the world of live art.

Dear friends, colleagues (and the entire Scottish games community) I need to talk to you honestly about where we are - and ask for your help. We are at the final milestone. After two years of intensive consultation, data-gathering, extensive feedback and planning, Scotland's Games Action Plan is finished and ready for launch. I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Business Minister…

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Scotland is marking the fifth anniversary of its pioneering blind and partially sighted gaming group, a thriving community that brings together gamers from across Scotland and Northern Ireland. Formed in November 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, the online group provides a vital safe space for like-minded gamers with sight loss to build friendships, share experiences, and act as a collective voice advocating for better inclusion across the mainstream gaming industry.

A new collective, the UK Games Industry Shadow Council (UKGISC), has been formally announced, positioning itself as a body dedicated to reviewing and challenging current practices within the UK games sector. The formation of the group is described as a direct response to a perceived lack of accountability and transparency from existing organisations regarding current industry pressures, including job market contraction, the impact of AI, and recent high-profile disputes at major studios.

The Scottish Games Network is delighted at the inclusion of two outstanding Scottish talents, Cara Ellison and Kyle Banks, in the prestigious BAFTA Breakthrough 2025 cohort. BAFTA Breakthrough is one of the industry's most respected talent initiatives, identifying and supporting the next generation of creative stars across film, television, and games in the UK and US. Inclusion in the programme is a significant achievement, reserved for individuals who have demonstrated exceptional creativity and skill and are now ready to make the next major step in their careers.

The Scottish Games Network wholeheartedly welcomes the announcement that national charity Into Games has secured significant funding, with support from Amazon, to launch Waypoint programme, a new project dedicated to supporting young people from working-class and disadvantaged backgrounds into careers in the games industry in Dundee and Tayside. This is a vital, targeted initiative. The Waypoint programme is designed to tackle the systemic barriers to entry by providing young people with the essential experience, skills, and industry connections needed to access the sector.

Following the major More Than Games: Creative Industries Edition event tomorrow, the Scottish Games Network is inviting the entire games sector to join a unique evening of cross-sector networking drinks. This is a rare opportunity to meet peers and colleagues from outside games development, across the wider creative and cultural community in Scotland - but with a foot very firmly in the games world.

Last week, I was formally onboarded as a new trustee of the British Games Institute (BGI), the incredible organisation that runs the National Videogames Museum. After taking part in my first board meeting, I’ve been reflecting on why this work is so important - and why it cuts to the very heart of the challenges and opportunities facing our entire industry.

One of Scotland's largest games studios, Rockstar, is at the centre of a major industrial dispute, with the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accusing the company of "union-busting" and initiating legal action following the abrupt dismissal of 31 employees. The move has been met with widespread condemnation from staff. In a letter to senior management, …

The Scottish Games Network has been informed that the upcoming meeting of the Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Scotland’s Games Ecosystem, scheduled for Tuesday, November 18th, has been postponed at short notice. This decision was made due to an unavoidable clash with urgent Parliamentary business, specifically the detailed consideration of amendments to the Assisted Dying Bill, which requires the presence of CPG Co-Chair, Michael Marra MSP.

The Scottish Games Network Ltd., in partnership with the University of Glasgow’s Games & Gaming Lab (UofGGamesLab) and the Scottish Games Education Network (SGEN), is thrilled to announce the inaugural Hello World! Scottish Students Startup Summit, addressing a key question facing all young innovators:  “Is starting my own games business in Scotland right for me?” Proudly supported by the…

A public crowdfunding campaign has been launched in a "race against time" to save the historic Dumbarton Studios from being sold for private property development and lost to the creative industries forever. The site, which has been the production home for iconic Scottish shows like River City and Take the High Road, is being sold by the BBC. A community-led group is now seeking to enact a…

The number of undergraduates studying games courses in the UK has skyrocketed by 279% over the last decade, according to a new analysis by TIGA. The data, revealed in a response to a Parliamentary question, shows that 15,450 undergraduates were enrolled in "Computer games and animation" courses in the 2023/24 academic year, compared to just 4,065 in 2013/14. While a strong and growing talent pipeline is a sign of the sector's long-term health and appeal, this massive influx of new talent is arriving at one of the most challenging moments in the industry’s history.

Get your alibis ready. Our friends at Hubworld have announced a new, ambitious HubQuiz, and this time it's a cross-country competition to find Scotland's cleverest developers. Taking place in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee on consecutive nights, the "part pub-quiz and part game-show" event invites all game industry workers to gather their teams and battle for prizes, a trophy, and the ultimate bragging rights.