Games industry leads productivity boost

A NEW REPORT by an independent think tank has revealed that productivity in Dundee has grown by almost 60% in the past two decades.

According to research by the Centre for Cities, Dundee has gone from one of the least productive to among the most, within its peer group of comparable UK cities and towns.

Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee welcomed the findings.

He said: “Dundee has a historic status within the games industry as the birthplace of games like Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings, but firms continue to innovative in fields such as mobile games, virtual and augmented reality and e-sports.

“In the city we have the highest concentration of gaming companies per working-age population of all British cities, with around three times more than the next-highest.

“Global giants like Rockstar and Unity sit alongside innovative SMEs such as Konglomerate Games, who have made a name for themselves integrating gaming technology and concepts into fields such as healthcare and education.”

Noting the impact of the city’s vibrant and expanding video games industry, as well as the role of other knowledge-intensive sectors in boosting productivity, the Centre for Cities report says: "In 2004, Dundee’s productivity was the lowest of all British cities and large towns

“Since then, as Dundee has increased its Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) jobs, especially gaming, real productivity has grown by 57%.

“This was one of the fastest increases of any city in the country and meant that Dundee went from trailing its comparator cities to leading them."

Employment in Scotland’s games sector has rapidly increased in recent years, up 26% between 2020 and 2021 alone, with Dundee firms at the forefront. One such firm, Hyper Luminal Games, more than doubled in size during this period.

Abertay University has been a UK pioneer and leader in video games education since 1997, and remains the highest-ranked institution in Europe for both undergraduate and graduate games design courses, according to the Princeton Revie.

In partnership with E-sports Scotland, Dundee & Angus College recently launched a foundation degree in e-sports and creative industries, the first of its kind in the country, and the city has hosted two national e-sports event since 2021.

Cllr Flynn added: “The productivity boost has also been driven by Dundee’s strong reputation in other knowledge-intensive sectors, including digital tech, life sciences, agritech and energy transition.

“The importance of maintaining and growing knowledge-intensive sectors was recognised in Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy, published earlier this month, with the requirement to boost productivity and close the gap with competitor nations identified as a key goal of the strategy.”

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