Public funding for the UK Games Fund makes transparency around the positive impacts that arise crucial.
DCMS commissioned Alma Economics to undertake an independent evaluation of the UK Games Fund, Tranzfuser and DunDev and it’s just been published here.
Our Head of Impact Kirsty Gibson explains why the report is so important:
“My role at UKGTF has been to make sure that the work we do translates through to measurable impact so it’s crucial to evaluate our programmes and make sure they are effective. There are some great headline figures in the report, but it’s also been really rewarding to see the wider satisfaction amongst our funded companies. It’s been a positive experience working with Alma Economics on this and we’ll certainly incorporate our learning from the report in any future programme design.”
Impact Headlines
- The current three-year iteration of the UKGF will generate in the range of £30m to £58m in productivity benefits for the UK economy. When set against the costs of delivery, this represents a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of between 3.8 and 7.3, with a central estimate of 4.8.
- UKGF support was associated with an eight-percentage-point increase in the probability of beneficiaries having developed a prototype or video game after one year of funding.
- Every £10k of funding is associated with a five-percentage-point increase in the probability of generating reusable assets or code after one year of receiving funding
UKGF-funded companies surveyed leveraged an additional £18.2m in funding, which exceeds the total £13m invested into the fund. - A large majority (80%) of beneficiaries agreed or strongly agreed that the UKGF support had reduced the risk level of their video game project.
Community Value
The report shares details of the high levels of satisfaction with UKGF and the positive responses in general in relation to the application process. Importantly for us, the report highlights the innovative way that funded companies give back time to the community. and how beneficiaries are generally very complimentary of the model of “community contribution”.
Hands-On Creatives
The report clearly demonstrates how the UK’s early-stage games dev sector has a positive economic impact. Government has clearly recognised how the ‘hands-on’ creative workforce can make a significant difference and the future looks bright with the news of the Games Growth Package.