Video gaming in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has the largest video games market in Europe,[1] with sales of $6 billion in 2008.[2] In 2009, the British video game industry outsold the film industry for the first time.[3] Many major video game franchises are developed in the country, such as Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, LittleBigPlanet and Dirt. The main industry group for publishers in the country is the ELSPA where as the main one for developers is Tiga. The country's rating organizations are the British Board of Film Classification and PEGI, the latter of which was adopted by law in 2009 and was expected to replace the BBFC from April 2011, although this has now been put on hold indefinitely.[4] In the country, the industry employs a total of 7,000 people.[5] One of its largest contributions to the worldwide industry was the release of the ZX Spectrum home computer in 1982. Northern Ireland is a growing place for video games growth.[6]

UK-based games companies

References

  1. ^ [1]. Eurogamer (2009-08-17). Retrieved on 2011-11-10.
  2. ^ News - UK Game Sales See 23 Percent Growth In 2008. Gamasutra (2009-01-07). Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  3. ^ Rosenberg, Dave. (2009-12-31) Video games outsell movies in U.K. | Software, Interrupted - CNET News. News.cnet.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  4. ^ Dring, Christopher (2011-01-26). "PEGI plans postponed until September". MCV. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42726/PEGI-plans-postponed-to-September-at-the-earliest. Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
  5. ^ Who works in Computer Games?. Skillset. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  6. ^ [2]

External links

Video gaming in Europe
Sovereign
states
  • Albania
  • Andorra
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Kazakhstan
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
    • England
    • Northern Ireland
    • Scotland
    • Wales
States with limited
recognition
  • Abkhazia
  • Kosovo
  • Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Northern Cyprus
  • South Ossetia
  • Transnistria
Dependencies
and other territories
  • Åland
  • Faroe Islands
  • Gibraltar
  • Guernsey
  • Jersey
  • Isle of Man
  • Svalbard
Other entities