Fragmentation, talent shortages and the lack of a unified national strategy are holding Scotland’s gaming industry back, a new report warns — but a new community-led action plan aims to change that.

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” north of the border. The roadmap argues that without a clear national vision backed by government, Scotland’s games cluster has been left fragmented and volatile, putting it behind countries like Finland. While Finland’s around 270 studios generate £2.47 billion in turnover, Scotland’s 130 firms bring in £340 million — far short of the £1-plus billion expected at a similar scale.

The report positions games as an under-valued “secret weapon”, already delivering more than double the GVA per head than the Scottish average. It proposes a phased, low-risk plan aligned with wider UK and Scottish economic strategies, starting with a £5 million Scottish Games Growth Catalyst Pilot Fund overseen by a new chief games officer (CGO). This could support prototype grants of up to £50,000 to create new Scottish gaming IP, with a target of 50 new IPs by 2028, alongside £100,000 support for work-for-hire studios.

Skills remain a key challenge. While government figures show employment has doubled from 1,045 to 2,125 since 2015, TIGA data shows half of UK game developers struggled to fill vacancies in 2024, particularly in art, programming and design. The roadmap recommends a National Games Skills and Education Forum and a Games Enterprise and Sustainability Service, with the ambition to establish twenty new studios by 2028 and add more than 5,000 jobs over four years.

The plan’s biggest proposal is a National Games Innovation Centre, described as the “operational core” of the supercluster, acting as an investment hub, research base and coordinator — with the report suggesting it could generate almost £16 in GVA for every £1 of public spend.

The report also highlights the wider “golden thread” of games technology across the economy, arguing it has transformational potential for sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, education, data, cyber, fintech, film and energy.