Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to hep support the establishment and growth of video games studios in South Norfolk.

This Government has committed to supporting the video games sector as part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, published last year, which sets out support for the industry in order to address the challenges it faces.

In April, we launched the £30 million Games Growth Package, which included a substantial uplift to the UK Games Fund to support growth of UK games studios and talent from all regions of the UK, as well as new funding for London Games Festival to promote inward investment into the sector. This was informed by previous positive evaluation findings on the UK Games Fund, and our work with industry to understand investment gaps and opportunities for growth.

As part of that expansion, the new ‘Entry Track’ is focused on newly formed games development studios and graduates with limited experience, providing grants of up to £20,000 to support development of their first title.

The UK also offers competitive tax relief via the Video Games Expenditure Credit, which continues to make the UK one of the leading destinations in the world for making video games.

Making creative careers accessible for everyone is a key priority for the Government, and we welcome the sector-led work to improve diversity through initiatives such as Women in Games. However, we understand that more work is needed to improve diversity and representation in the creative industries, so we are also encouraged by the creation of the UK Games Industry Shadow Council to oversee equality, diversity and inclusion in the industry until the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority expands its remit to cover the video games sector.