Video games in the United Kingdom

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The

video game market in Europe in 2022 after Germany, and the sixth-largest globally.[2] By sales, it is Europe's largest market, having overtaken Germany in 2022.[3] The UK video game market was worth £7.16 billion ($9.81 billion) in 2021, a 2% increase over the previous year.[4]

While the North American and Japanese markets were thriving in the early 1980s with arcade and home console games, the UK's game industry grew out of amateur "bedroom coders" on home computers, in part due to the government's initiative, through the

Wipeout and Dirt, making Britain the third-largest producer of video game series behind Japan and the United States. The best-selling video game series made in the UK is Grand Theft Auto (primary developed by Rockstar North in Edinburgh), which has sold over 150 million copies as of September 2013; the most recent instalment Grand Theft Auto V became the fastest-selling video game of all time by making $815.7 million (£511.8 million) in sales worldwide during the first 24 hours of the game's sale.[5] Another major British contribution to the game industry was the ZX Spectrum
home computer, released in 1982.

The organisations responsible for rating video games in the UK are the

PEGI, the latter of which was elected to rate British games in 2009 and subsequently began doing so in July 2012.[6]
The United Kingdom's video game industry is estimated to employ 20,000 people.[7]

History

Early history (1950s–1960s)

Main article: Early history of video games § Initial games
general-purpose computer
.

The United Kingdom had been a key participant in the 18th and 19th century

reduced instruction set computing paradigm, the ARM architecture family, which would play a large role as the heart of later games consoles (e.g. the Nintendo Switch) and mobile gaming.[9]

Christopher Strachey's Draughts, completed around 1951, is the first verifiable video game to run on a general-purpose computer, developed at the British National Physical Laboratory.

Early arcade video games (1970s–1980s)

Up until the 1970s, British

public buildings.[10][11]

Space Invaders was the first video game to attract

Socialist beliefs in restriction and control". A motion to bring the bill before Parliament was defeated by 114 votes to 94 votes; the bill itself was never considered by Parliament.[12][13][14]

Space Invaders was followed by other hit arcade video games, including

video game magazines, Computer and Video Games
, began publication in the United Kingdom in 1981.

Early home video games (early 1980s)

Some of the

Radio Shack TRS-80 brand.[18]

The

game cartridges.[20] By 1984, computer games had overtaken both consoles and LCD games as the largest sector of the UK home video game market.[17]

Microcomputer popularity (1980s)

The popularity of the ZX Spectrum was instrumental in driving the start of the UK home computer game industry.

Whereas the North American and Japanese home video game markets boomed with

computer games.[10] The saturation of home computers immunised the UK against the effects of the North American video game crash in 1983, after which the microcomputer game market continued to grow, with significant levels of domestic game production taking place. In 1984, computer games replaced console and LCD games as the largest sector of the UK home video game market.[17]

Computer literacy had been seen by the UK government as a key skill that Britain's children should possess to help improve the technology savvy of the nation in the future.[23] While home computers did exist in the UK market like the Commodore PET and Apple II (both released in 1977), these were comparatively expensive for broad use across the population.[24] The BBC worked with Acorn to create the low-cost BBC Micro home computer alongside a set of broadcast programming to help teach fundamentals of computers for school-aged children. This was used in up to 80% of the schools in the UK at the time, and led to creation of the Spectrum and Commodore 64 to help meet growing demand for the systems.[23] Additionally, youth of the United Kingdom at that time were tinkerers, taking apart and repairing devices including electronics, and the nature of computer programming felt within this same scope.[25]

The United Kingdom had already had a history with

cassette tape for use in the computer's tape drives. A market developed for companies to help such programmer sell and distribute their games.[24] This industry took off after the release of the ZX Spectrum in 1982: by the end of 1983 there were more than 450 companies selling video games on cassette compared to 95 the year before.[24] An estimated 10,000 to 50,000 youth, mostly male, were making games out of their homes at this time based on advertisements for games in popular magazines.[25] The growth of video games in the UK during this period was comparable to the punk subculture, fueled by young people making money from their games.[25]

One of the earliest such successful titles was Manic Miner, developed and released by Matthew Smith in 1983, sold by Bug-Byte, one of the first publishers in this market. While a loose clone of the United States-developed Miner 2049er, Manic Miner incorporated elements of British humour and other oddities.[24][28] Manic Miner is considered the quintessential "British game" for this reason, and since then, inspired similar games with the same type of British wit and humour through the present.[26][28][29] Another key title from this period was Elite, developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and released in 1984. A non-linear space exploration, trading and combat game, Elite established many of the principles of the open world gameplay concept that are used in most space simulation games today as well as influencing the Grand Theft Auto series, itself a pinnacle of open-world design.[30][31]

The popularity of video games on home computers within the UK drew sales away from other video game formats.

Olivetti over 1985, while Sinclair Research was sold to Amstrad in 1986.[33][34]

The 32-bit 1987

ported to other computers, such as the Amiga, under the name Virus in 1988, without such lightning support. It was also ported to the Atari ST where it won game of the year 1988 awards.[35] Braben had previously made the 1984 wire-frame 3D game Elite, with Ian Bell
, also a first with a 3D graphics technique.

BBC BASIC on the Archimedes was considered as a vehicle for cross-platform game development by David Braben. The BBC Micro was also a development host for the Commodore 64 version of Elite.

Arrival of 16-bit computers (1985–1995)

The Amiga 500

The more advanced

16-bit Commodore Amiga and Atari ST machines typically required a full team of developers to build games for; the bedroom coders of the previous years began to fade away as development companies formed to build games on these new systems.[36] First released in 1985,[37] the more expensive hardware and software stifled the uptake of both machines.[38] The cheaper but less powerful Atari ST became the more popular of the two computers; in 1988 it accounted for nearly one in ten of all UK personal computer sales, more than double that of the Amiga.[39] Although chart company Gallup reported in February 1989 that Amiga games had begun to outsell ST games for the first time, the combined sales for both platforms were still less than 10% of the total UK games market.[40] The cheaper eight-bit machines like the ZX Spectrum were continuing to sell well, particularly with parents buying their first computer, with stocks of the Commodore 64 running out over Christmas 1988.[41]

For the following Christmas period, Commodore allowed Ocean Software to bundle Batman, their first game specifically designed for the sixteen-bit machines,[42] with their Amiga 500 computers to create the "Batman Pack".[43]: 58  Launched in October 1989 with a TV advertising campaign, it became one of the most successful hardware/software bundles of all time[42] selling over 186,000 units by the end of the following year.[44]

The Amiga's more powerful graphics capabilities enabled game developers to experiment more[37] and helped to expand the demoscene in the UK, which in turn brought in more developers to stretch the capabilities of the computer.[45] A number of influential British companies emerged during this period:

During this period, video game consoles from the

Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, began to gain interest in the UK.[15] Such interest led to more corporate structure around video game development to support the costs and hardware needed to develop games on these platforms, and caused a decline of the popularity of the bedroom coder by 1995.[15][25] However, the bedroom coders had seeded the necessary elements as to gain interest from United States companies looking for talent around this time, leading to various acquisitions and partnerships between US and UK game companies around this time.[15]

Console systems (1987–present)

During the late 1980s to early 1990s, there was a gradual transition in the UK home video game market from home computers to

Super NES (1992 release), and then 32-bit fourth-generation consoles including Sony's PlayStation (1995 release) and the Nintendo 64 (1997 release).[37]

By 1992,

monopolistic business practices.[17]

With the increasing power and popularity of consoles, more UK developers targeted console platforms in the 1990s.

Nintendo consoles, Argonaut Games which helped to bring 3D graphics to the Super NES via Star Fox, and Core Design which brought the Tomb Raider series to the PlayStation console. Other software houses, like Ocean Software, Codemasters, and U.S. Gold expanded into console games as well.[36]

Video game sales and revenue (1980–1995)

Annual UK home video game revenue (1980–1993)[17]
Annual UK home video game revenue (1980–1993)[17]
Year
Game consoles
Computer games
LCD games
 Annual (£) Annual (US$) Inflation (US$)
1980 £33,000,000 — £12,000,000 £45,000,000 $105,000,000 $388,000,000
1981 £46,000,000 — £20,000,000 £66,000,000 $133,000,000 $446,000,000
1982 £46,000,000 — £34,000,000 £80,000,000 $140,000,000 $442,000,000
1983 £36,000,000 — £45,000,000 £81,000,000 $123,000,000 $376,000,000
1984 £25,000,000 £100,000,000 £40,000,000 £165,000,000 $219,000,000 $642,000,000
1985 £16,000,000 £105,000,000 £35,000,000 £156,000,000 $200,000,000 $567,000,000
1986 £13,000,000 £105,000,000 £6,000,000 £124,000,000 $182,000,000 $506,000,000
1987 £10,000,000 £110,000,000 £8,000,000 £128,000,000 $209,000,000 $561,000,000
1988 £24,000,000 £112,000,000 £21,000,000 £157,000,000 $279,000,000 $719,000,000
1989 £47,000,000 £115,000,000 £17,000,000 £179,000,000 $293,000,000 $720,000,000
1990 £87,000,000 £138,000,000 £20,000,000 £245,000,000 $435,000,000 $1,014,000,000
1991 £298,000,000 £125,000,000 £22,000,000 £445,000,000 $785,000,000 $1,756,000,000
1992 £578,000,000 £132,000,000 £20,000,000 £730,000,000 $1,281,000,000 $2,781,000,000
1993 £547,000,000 £148,000,000 £19,000,000 £714,000,000 $1,071,000,000 $2,259,000,000
Annual UK highest-grossing arcade video games (1984–1992)
Year Top arcade video game Manufacturer Genre Cabinet sales Coin drop earnings Ref
1984 Track & Field Konami Sports Un­known Un­known [51]
1985 Commando Capcom
Run and gun
 Un­known Un­known
1986 Nemesis (Gradius) Konami
Scrolling shooter
 Un­known Un­known [52]
1987 Out Run Sega
Driving
 Un­known Un­known [53][54]
1988 Operation Wolf Taito
Light gun shooter
 Un­known Un­known [55][56]
1991
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
 		Capcom Fighting 10,000 £130,000,000+ ($229,000,000+) [57]
1992 Un­known £260,000,000 ($459,000,000)
Annual UK best-selling home video games (1984–1995)
Year Top home video game Developer Publisher Platform(s) Genre Sales Ref
1984 Jet Set Willy Software Projects Software Projects ZX Spectrum Platformer Un­known [58]
1985 The Way of the Exploding Fist Beam Software
Melbourne House
Home computers
 Fighting Un­known [59]
1986 Yie Ar Kung-Fu Konami Imagine Software Home computers Fighting Un­known [60]
1987 Out Run Sega U.S. Gold ZX Spectrum
Driving
 350,000 [61][62]
1989 RoboCop Data East Ocean Software ZX Spectrum Action Un­known [63]
1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Sega Sega
Sega Mega Drive
 Platformer 1,000,000+ [64][65]
1993 Mortal Kombat Midway Acclaim Entertainment
Game consoles
 Fighting 400,000+ [66]
1995 FIFA Soccer 96 Extended Play Productions EA Sports
Multi-platform
 Sports Un­known [67]

Indie gaming (2010–present)

While large British studios continued to develop high-profile games for consoles and computers, a new hobbyist interest arose around 2010 in

independent game development. The indie game model of development started to become popular in the late 2000s, with games like World of Goo, Super Meat Boy, and Fez showing the success of the small indie team model and the means to distribute these via digital channels rather than retail. This in turn rekindled the hobbyist programmer mindset in the United Kingdom, starting a new wave of individual and small team British developers.[68] In 2009, the profits of Britain's video game industry exceeded those from its film industry for the first time.[69]

Industry

The UK video game market was worth £5.7 billion ($7.6 billion) in 2018, a 10% increase over the previous year.[70] From this, £4.01 billion was from the sales of software (+10.3% increase over 2017), £1.57 billion from the sales of hardware (+10.7% increase), and £0.11 billion from the sales of other game related items.[71] In the software market, the data showed a significant increase in digital and online revenues, up +20.3% to a record £2.01bn.[72] £1.17 billion of software sales came from mobile games. In 2017, the number of players was estimated at 32.4 million people.[73]

The Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) was established in 2014 to help support creativity in the UK games industry. According to TIGA,[74] prior to this, the UK Games industry was lagging behind other countries where game developers benefitted from substantial tax breaks and government grants: "Between 2008 and 2011, employment in the [games industry] fell by over 10 per cent and investment fell by £48 million". Thus the UK VGTR aims to ensure the UK games industry's competitiveness on the global stage, promotes investment and job creation and encourage the production of culturally British video games. The key benefit of the tax relief is that qualifying companies can claim up to 20% of their "core expenditure" back, provided that expenditure has been made in the European Economic Area.[75] In 2015 the UK Government provided £4m to launch a games prototype fund, the UK Games Fund and a graduate enterprise programme called Tranzfuser.[76] The UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser programmes are run by UK Games Talent and Finance Community Interest Company (UKGTF)[77][78] Further funding of £1.5m for the UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser was announced by the UK Government in 2018.[79] Further funding of £8m for the UK Games Fund and Tranzfuser was awarded by the UK Government in 2022[80]

In recent years, Northern Ireland has made increasing contributions to the United Kingdom's video game industry.[81]

Best-selling video game franchises (1995–2021)

Best-selling video game franchises in the UK (1995–2021)[82]
Rank
Video game franchise
 UK debut year Franchise owner(s)
1 FIFA 1993 Electronic Arts
2 Call of Duty 2003 Activision Blizzard
3 Mario 1981 Nintendo
4 Grand Theft Auto 1997 Take-Two Interactive
5 Lego 1997 The Lego Group
6 Star Wars 1983 Lucasfilm Games
7 The Sims 2000 Electronic Arts
8 Pokémon 1999 Nintendo / The Pokémon Company
9 Assassin's Creed 2007 Ubisoft
10 Need for Speed 1994 Electronic Arts

Media

In 2000, Channel 4 produced a documentary, Thumb Candy, on the history of video games.[83] It includes footage from old Nintendo commercials.[84]

Video game conventions

Game ratings and government oversight

Prior to 2012, video games in the UK would be rated through the

Pan European Game Information (PEGI) system in 2003, the VSC standardized its ratings on PEGI's classification system. The VSC system was voluntary at this point, though most UK retailers would respect the ratings marked on boxes to avoid selling mature games to children.[85] The only facet of the UK ratings system for video games set in law were for titles deemed to have excessive violent or pornographic content; such titles were required to be reviewed by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), a non-government body designed in law to review film and television content, if such a designation was determined by the VSC. Legal penalties existed for publishers and retailers that attempted to sell such games without the BBFC's review. The BBFC had the authority to outright ban sale of a video game if deemed so, though such bans could be challenged.[85] Up to 2012, only two such games had been temporarily banned by the BBFC due to rating: Manhunt 2 and Carmageddon, both which were later cleared after changes had been made by their publishers.[86]

The

Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, made numerous suggestions for how the government could take steps to protect children in the digital environment like the Internet.[86] Among the suggestions were related to video game ratings, which the report found that parents often mistook as difficulty ratings, and instead urged that the BBFC become involved. By May 2008, the BBFC had proposed a new voluntary ratings system for digital video games, paralleling their existing rating systems for film and television.[87] The VSC and other groups felt the BBFC's system for video games was too forgiving and was based on a system designed around linean content rather that non-linear content such as video games,[88][89] and urged the government to adopt a system based on an enhanced PEGI categorization system they were working on.[90] Reports had found that the PEGI system tended to rate games more conservatively - issuing the game a stricter age rating - compared to what the BBFC would issue for the same title; the VSC stated that 50% of the games they had rated "18+" on the PEGI since 2003 had received a more lenient rating from the BBFC.[91]

The DCMS issued a following report in June 2009 to address several points of the Byron Review, among which included the intent to standardized video game ratings on the PEGI system.[86] The Video Recordings (Labelling) Regulations act was passed in May 2012 and came into force on 30 July 2012.[92] With it, it eliminated the BBFC's oversight of video games with limited exceptions on excessively pornographic titles, as well as for games with limited interactivity (such as interactive DVD games) and for any direct video content on the game disc.[93] Instead, all published video games in retail marketplaces were required to be rated under the PEGI system by the special Games Ratings Authority (GRA) within the VSC. Retailers were bound to prevent sales of mature games (PEGI ratings of 12, 16, or 18) to younger children under this law, with both fines and prison time should they be found guilty of such sales.[94][86] The VSC also became the only body that could ban sale of a game in the UK.[93] Ukie continues to work alongside the VSC to help UK developers and publishers prepare for the VSC process and prepare educational and advocacy material to make the UK public aware of the ratings system.[93]

The VSC ratings only apply to retail titles; digitally distributed titles are not regulated under UK law, through the VSC urges developers, publishers, and storefronts as a best-practice to use the low-cost self-ratings services of the International Age Rating Coalition to assign their game an appropriate PEGI rating for the digital service.[95]

Legacy

The

WipeOut (1995), the Worms series (1995–present), Lemmings (1991), Micro Machines (1991), Populous (1989), and the Tomb Raider series (1996–present).[96]

The interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is loosely based on the early period of the United Kingdom's video game industry, and makes allusion to Imagine Software, a major publisher in the early 1980s which gained notoriety when it fell into bankruptcy in the midst of being filmed as part of a documentary for the BBC. Jeff Minter, one of the earlier game developers in the UK's industry, has a cameo role within the movie.[97]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the UK Video Games Industry - TIGA". TIGA. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Top Countries & Markets by Game Revenues". Newzoo. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  3. ^ Dring, Christopher (12 January 2023). "European console and PC game sales fall 7.1% in 2022". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  4. ^ Powell, Steffan (31 March 2022). "The UK video games market is worth a record £7.16bn". BBC News. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Grand Theft Auto 5 breaks 6 sales world records". Guinness World Records. 8 October 2013.
  6. ^ "PEGI ratings become UK's single video game age rating system". The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment. 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Creative Industries Economic Estimates: Focus on..." Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  8. ^ "A brief history of British computers: the first 25 years (1948–1973)". BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  9. ^ "How an obscure British PC maker invented ARM and changed the world". 20 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b c "After Pong". ACE. No. 6 (March 1988). 4 February 1988. pp. 29–32.
  11. ISBN 978-0-262-37234-3
    .
  12. ComputerAndVideoGames.com
    . 14 February 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  13. doi:10.1093/screen/29.2.52
    . In the UK, the Labour MP George Foulkes led a campaign in 1981 to curb the 'menace' of video games, maintaining that they had addictive properties. His 'Control of Space Invaders (and other Electronic Games) Bill' was put to the Commons and only narrowly defeated.
  14. ^ "Control of Space Invaders and Other Electronic Games". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 20 May 1981. col. 287–291.
  15. ^
    S2CID 143373406
    .
  16. ^ "Where every home game turns out to be a winter". The Guardian. 6 March 1986. p. 15. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0-10-127812-6
    .
  18. ISSN 0262-4079
    .
  19. ^ a b Baker, Chris (8 June 2010). "Sinclair ZX80 and the Dawn of 'Surreal' U.K. Game Industry". Wired. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  20. ^
    Future Publishing
    (published 6 June 1991). July 1991. pp. 17–23. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  21. ^ Stewart, Keith (24 February 2017). "10 most influential games consoles – in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Commodore 64 turns 30: What do today's kids make of it?". BBC News. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  23. ^ a b Hormby, Thomas (8 February 2007). "Acorn and the BBC Micro: From education to obscurity". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2007.
  24. ^ a b c d Baker, Chris (6 August 2010). "Sinclair ZX80 and the Dawn of 'Surreal' U.K. Game Industry". Wired. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  25. ^ a b c d Mardsen, Rhordi (25 January 2015). "Geeks Who Rocked The World: Documentary Looks Back At Origins Of The Computer-games Industry". The Independent. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  26. ^ a b c "How British video games became a billion pound industry". BBC. December 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Death of the bedroom coder". The Guardian. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  28. ^ a b Donlan, Christian (26 July 2012). "Manic Miner 360: Revisiting a Classic". Eurogamer. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  29. ^ Orr, Lucy (7 July 2011). "Bug-Byte Manic Miner". The Register. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  30. ^ Braben, David (31 December 2005). "Towards games with the wow factor". BBC News. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  31. ^ "Gamasutra - Gary Penn interview". 31 January 2011.
  32. Newsfield Publications Ltd. Archived from the original
    on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  33. ISBN 0-7156-1901-2
    .
  34. ^ "Sinclair: a Corporate History". Planet Sinclair. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  35. ^ "Virus". Atari Mania. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  36. ^ a b The Rise and Fall of Britain's Bedroom Coders. Game Maker's Toolkit. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ a b c d e f g Stuart, Keith (23 July 2015). "Commodore Amiga at 30 – the computer that made the UK games industry". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  38. ^ "Thumbs up for Amigas following A500 launch". Popular Computing Weekly. No. 12. Sunshine Publications. 20 March 1987. p. 5.
  39. ^ "Computer Boom Gathers Pace". New Computer Express. Future Publishing. 29 April 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  40. ^ "Amiga Edges Ahead in 16-Bit War". New Computer Express. Future Publishing. 25 March 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  41. ^ "Bundle Boost for Commodore 64". New Computer Express. Future Publishing. 17 June 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  42. ^ a b Robert Mellor. "The Making Of Batman The Movie". Retro Gamer. No. 41. pp. 64–67.
  43. ^ Wilkins, Chris; Kean, Roger M (2013). Ocean - The History. Revival Retro Events.
  44. ^ "How Batman (1989) helped shift Commodore Amiga computers". Film Stories. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  45. ISBN 978-3-642-03756-6
    .
  46. ^ Chaplin, Heather (12 March 2007). "Is That Just Some Game? No, It's a Cultural Artifact". The New York Times.
  47. ^ "16-Bit Systems". Computer and Video Games. No. 182 (January 1997). 11 December 1996. p. 18.
  48. ^ "The debate over video games". New Straits Times. 8 May 1993. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  49. ^ Warr, Simon Morgan (22 August 1992). "Game war heroes: Sega v Nintendo". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  50. ^ "Games role of PC grows in UK market". Screen Digest. Screen Digest Limited: 248. 1993. IBM-compatible personal computers are now fourth most important games format in UK market after Sega Mega Drive, Amiga and Super NES according to surveys by Gallup
  51. ^ "Commando: Soldier of Fortune". Your Sinclair. No. 1. January 1986. p. 54.
  52. ^ "1986 Top Ten Coin-Ops". Sinclair User. No. 59 (February 1987). 18 January 1987. p. 96.
  53. ^ Prisco, Jacopo (18 September 2021). "How Out Run changed video games forever". Wired UK. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  54. ^ "Burn Rubber". Computer and Video Games. No. 75 (January 1988). 15 December 1987. pp. 50–1.
  55. ^ Carroll, Martyn (April 2016). "Operation Wolf". Retro Gamer. No. 153. pp. 34–41.
  56. ^ "Reviews: Operation Wolf". Computer and Video Games. No. 86 (December 1988). November 1988. pp. 20–5.
  57. ^ "The making of Street Fighter 2 - a video game legend" (PDF). Mega. No. 10 (July 1993). 17 June 1993. pp. 14-35 (18-21).
  58. ^ The Year's Top 10 Games. EMAP. p. 88. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  59. ^ "News Desk: Exploding Fist tops Gallup 1985 charts". Popular Computing Weekly. 20 March 1986. p. 4.
  60. ^ "Yie Ar tops charts for 1986". Popular Computing Weekly. 12 February 1987. p. 6.
  61. ISSN 0261-3697
    .
  62. ^ "Game of the Year". Your Sinclair. No. 28 (April 1988). 10 March 1988. pp. 64–5.
  63. ^ "The Best Games of '89". Computer and Video Games. No. 98 (January 1990). 16 December 1989. p. 9.
  64. ^ "Can Mega Drive Street Fighter 2 Live Up To All The Hype?" (PDF). Mega. No. 10 (July 1993). 17 June 1993. p. 22.
  65. ^ "Sonic: A brief history". MegaTech. No. 26 (February 1994). United Kingdom: Maverick Magazines. 20 January 1994. p. 24.
  66. ELSPA/Electronic Arts/CTW
  67. European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). 2006. p. 51. Retrieved 16 October 2021. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help
    )
  68. ^ Stuart, Keith (27 January 2010). "Back to the bedroom: how indie gaming is reviving the Britsoft spirit". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  69. ^ Rosenberg, Dave. (2009-12-31) Video games outsell movies in U.K. | Software, Interrupted - CNET News. News.cnet.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-07.
  70. ^ "UK consumer spend on games grows 10% to a record £5.7bn in 2018". ukie.org.uk.
  71. ^ "UK gaming market worth record £5.7bn". BBC. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  72. ^ Luke, Hebblethwaite (2 April 2019). "UK consumer spend on games grows 10% to a record £5.7bn in 2018". UK Interactive Entertainment Association. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  73. ^ "Top 10 Best-Selling Video Games of All Time - IGN". 19 April 2019.
  74. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  75. ^ "Pollen VC | Funding for Mobile App and Game Developers". pollen.vc.
  76. ^ "£4m fund to kick-start the next 'Tomb Raider'". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  77. ^ "UK Games Fund". UK Games Fund. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  78. ^ "Home". Tranzfuser. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  79. ^ "Creative industries: Sector Deal". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  80. ^ "£50 million of Government investment announced for creative businesses across the UK". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  81. ^ "The changing face of NI's video gaming industry". BBC News. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  82. ^ "The video games of our lives: GfK publishes UK's top 30 best-selling computer games since 1995, with all games grossing £26.3bn in 27 years". GfK. London. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  83. ^ Thumb Candy. Thumb Candy - The history of computer games 2000. YouTube. Published by QLvsJAGUAR. Published on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  84. ^ Gaming Life UK. IGN. Published 24 June 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  85. ^
    Gamasutra
    . 15 December 2005. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  86. ^ a b c d "BBC News: UK enforces PEGI video game ratings system". BBC. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  87. ^ "BBFC ratings go online". The Guardian. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  88. ^ Hartley, Adam (23 June 2009). "Interview: ELSPA boss explains PEGI age ratings". TechRadar. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  89. ^ Waters, Darren (8 July 2009). "Divide on games industry ratings". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  90. ^ "Games ratings row gets colourful". BBC. 28 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  91. ^ Sassoon Coby, Alex (18 June 2009). "Spot On: British game-ratings changes broken down". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  92. ^ "Video Standards Council to take over games age ratings". BBC. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  93. ^
    GamesIndustry.biz
    . Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  94. ^ "MCV: PEGI ratings come into force today". MCV/Develop. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  95. ^ Robertson, Andy (14 March 2019). "Digital Minister calls on all video game providers to use age ratings online - and parents agree". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  96. ^ Phillips, Tom (7 January 2020). "Royal Mail is putting Dizzy, Lemmings, and Elite on stamps". Eurogamer. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  97. ^ Chapman, Tom (6 September 2019). "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch – What's it about, who's in the cast and can I watch it on Netflix?". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Video gaming in the United Kingdom.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Video_games_in_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=1210706425"