The Billion-Pound Ghost: Why Project Pathfinder is the Economic Firewall Scotland’s Games Sector Needs

Project Pathfinder: Last week, the Herald published its list of the 50 most powerful people in Scottish arts and culture. It was an impressive collection of talent – but it was also a perfect snapshot of why the interactive sector remains a ‘billion-pound ghost’ in our national policy.

Despite being one of the most successful and high-value creative industries we possess, not a single person from the games industry made the list. This invisibility was not a cultural snub; it is a systemic and ingrained risk to our economy.

The Reality Check

For the first time in 14 years, the UK games market is in retreat. Recent data from TIGA shows a sharp 4.5% fall in development jobs, with over 1,500 roles lost in a single year. We are navigating a global market that is increasingly volatile, saturated, and facing increased competition.

As I recently noted in the PocketGamer.biz Mobile Mavens discussion, government support has moved from a ‘nice-to-have’ benefit to a priority. In 2026, a region without a dedicated strategy (or Games Action Plan) isn’t just less competitive – it is effectively invisible in the global market.

A Step in the Right Direction, but Only a Step

We genuinely welcome the UK Government’s recently announced £30 million Games Growth Package. This investment is a vital vote of confidence in the sector. However, it is important to note that this funding addresses only one of the five key recommendations within “Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan“- specifically, the need for a dedicated IP fund.

While funding for new games is essential, it does not address the fundamental need for strategic recognition, knowledgeable business support, education & skills alignment, or the industrialisation of games technologies and techniques. Rather than simply funding more products, we must build the infrastructure that allows our talent to thrive across the entire economy.

Introducing Project Pathfinder

As the author of Level Up, I have argued that we must bridge the ‘Translation Gap’ between games and the wider economy. Today, the Scottish Games Network (SGN) is moving beyond advocacy into industrial delivery with the launch of Project Pathfinder.

We have formally applied for Ecosystem funding to support this initiative and are currently securing letters of support from organisations across Scotland’s other key industries, includeing: Healthcare, Energy, Fintech, Cyber, Data, Creative Industries, Space and more.

Project Pathfinder is not just another games project – it is the only approach currently active in the UK that treats games as an innovation engine for the wider economy and an integral part of the country’s digital future.

By industrialising the connection between game-native technologies, such as Real-Time 3D, simulation, visualisation, engagement and creative design with other critical industries, we are creating a blueprint for the future. Project Pathfinder is a pilot for Scotland (and the proposed National Games Innovation Centre), but it offers a scalable model for the UK as a whole.

(It also offers the opportunity for revenue outside the hit-driven consumer games market, which could potentially make the country’s game developers more investment-friendly).

What Is Project Pathfinder?

It’s simple. Project Pathfinder looks for ways to bring the country’s games ecosystem together with other industries and sectors, and explore opportunities to build connections, opportunities for collaboration and projects where ‘games’ offer an approach that is not yet present in those other sectors. The goal is for Scotland’s games companies, using their unique range of skills, to work with other organisations across the country to develop and deliver paid projects outside the consumer game market.

This does not stop game companies from working on videogames. Instead, it takes the unique skills and approach from the games world and makes them relevant to the challenges and opportunities in other key parts of our economy.

The project aims to deliver three major pieces of work:

• The MTG (More Than Games) Registry: A national digital directory allowing global organisations to find and understand the technical capabilities, skillsets and commercial benchmarks of Scottish games studios.
• The Public Sector Interactive Procurement Toolkit: A bespoke framework to help government departments, public sector bodies, local authorities and corporations understand how to procure interactive services.
• Industrial Activation Sprints: Tailored sessions, connecting game studios with industrial leaders across multiple sectors outside the games ecosystem. This could be a delegation going to a trade event, a tailored workshop to gather data from both sectors, or a dedicated business development sprint.

The Call to Action

The reality is that we simply do not need yet another ‘test-and-finish’ review, which pushes any sort of support another two years down the road. We need the infrastructure that turns our elite £151,382 GVA-per-head potential into a resilient and integrated national asset.

SGN is looking for Founding Industrial Partners to lead our first Activation Sprints. If you are a leader in a high-growth sector and you are struggling with complex data, engagement, or simulation, the games sector may have the solution.

We already have letters of support from some of the country’s leading innovation organisations, including: the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI), Social Enterprise Academy (SEA), ScotlandIS, and Tech Scaler with many other organisations lining up to support the project. We’ll be sharing the letters as they are agreed and showing the appetite across Scotland’s economy for collaboration.

If your organisation is interested in exploring ways to understand and work with the games ecosystem please get in touch for an exploratory conversation.

The era of invisibility ends now. It is time to press start on the future of the UK’s interaction economy.

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

#appliedGames #cyber #data #film #Fintech #games #GamesActionPlan #ProjectPathfinder #scotland

What The New UK Government’s £30M Games Funding Means For Scotland

This week’s announcement of a £30 million Games Growth Package by the UK Government marks a significant moment of recognition for the interactive sector. With the doubling of the UK Games Fund (UKGF) to £28.5 million and the introduction of grants up to £250,000, Westminster has finally acknowledged the importance (and potential) of the £8.8 billion consumer market. However, while this capital injection is a vital down payment for de-risking new intellectual property, it is not a complete strategy for the future of the Scottish supercluster.

For Scotland, this news has a deep resonance. The UK Games Fund was born in Dundee, emerging from the Dare to be Digital programme at Abertay University. It is a Scottish success story that has been exported to the rest of the UK. Yet, the physical location of the fund in Dundee does not offer an inherent advantage to Scottish studios. Without a formalised national strategy to interface with this capital, Scotland risks acting as a landlord for a UK asset rather than a primary beneficiary of its expansion.

The limitation of the DCMS package lies in its ‘industry’ focus. As Nick Poole, CEO of UKIE, noted: “Targeted support across the development pipeline will help studios start, scale and stay globally competitive.” This vision remains firmly trapped within the consumer games market, which remains hugely volatile and increasingly competitive. It focuses on the entertainment side of games, while ignoring the wider ecosystem of interactive technology. It won’t address the sectoral isolation that keeps games expertise separated from the rest of the Scottish economy.

Please don’t misunderstand. The money is hugely valuable – and very welcome. However, there are a number of challenges facing the games sector, which the funding alone cannot solve. The industry is currently facing an oversupply of graduates, a lack of entry-level positions, and ongoing global market volatility. Throwing capital at studios without providing the commercial scaffolding required to build sustainable businesses is a high-risk approach. This is why the National Games Action Plan is essential. While the UK Government funding provides the fuel, the Action Plan provides the road, and the guidebook for the journey.

Projects like the Hello World! Startup Summit have already proven that we can transform a vulnerable talent pool into a resilient wave of new founders. By providing dedicated, games-specific business support alongside funding, we ensure that studios do not just survive a grant period but scale into the kind of high-growth companies Scotland needs.

With the Scottish Parliament now in recess and the election period beginning, the next administration faces a clear challenge. The UK Government has set the pace with this Growth Package. Scotland must now build upon it. While this new funding could be used to match-fund successful Scottish UKGF applications, the most critical single action remains strategic alignment – recognition of games as a key sector for Scotland’s future, building understanding of the whole games ecosystem across government and appointing a Chief Games Officer (CGO).

A CGO would provide the accountability and leadership required to elevate games across every portfolio of the Scottish Government. This role would enable the country to engage more successfully with UK-level funding while ensuring that our £151,382 GVA-per-head productivity is leveraged across areas including healthcare, energy, fintech, data, tech and education.

The goal is to establish a £1 billion supercluster by 2030. The DCMS announcement is a very welcome boost, but it does not remove the fundamental structural issues facing the sector. To move beyond the silo and achieve true national impact, the incoming Scottish Government must implement the Games Action Plan. The capital is now on the table – it is time for the strategic delivery to begin and for games to become an integral part of Scotland’s digital future.

#DCMS #funding #games #GamesAction #GamesActionPlan #LevelUp #LondonGamesFest #scotland #ukGamesFund

The Golden Thread: Digital Health and Data Leaders Back Games Action Plan

The growing support for the future of Scotland’s games ecosystem has moved beyond the creative industries. In a significant move for the sector, the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) and The Data Lab have formally aligned with the Level Up Scotland Games Action Plan, highlighting its potential to transform the nation’s digital future.

A Cross-Sector Mandate

In an article published this week, the DHI identifies games technology as a ‘Golden Thread’ for Scotland’s digital mental health and therapeutic innovation. The analysis reinforces a core pillar of the five+ year R&D roadmap: that games are no longer just entertainment, but high-performance tools for social, creative and economic impact.

The DHI feature supports the publication of the Games Action Plan, noting that its focus on skills, innovation, and ecosystem support is vital to integrating games technology into healthcare.

The Report States:

For those working at the intersection of games, immersive technology and mental health, this moment matters. The Action Plan’s focus on skills, sustainable growth, responsible innovation and ecosystem support aligns closely with the needs of digital mental health developers, from serious games and therapeutic experiences to tools supporting prevention, engagement and recovery. 

The Triple Helix of Innovation

This endorsement is supported by The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI. Welcoming the publication of the roadmap, Heather Thomson, CEO of The Data Lab, noted:

• The Data Lab welcomes the publication of Level Up Scotland: A National Action Plan for the Scottish Games Sector. Scotland’s games industry is a significant contributor to our economy and shares strong synergies with the data and AI ecosystem, consuming and producing vast amounts of data, developing techniques and talent, with demand for shared skillsets. This evidence-based Action Plan provides a framework to support sustainable economic impact, strengthen talent pipelines and unlock investment. We support the vision and ambition set out for the sector and its potential to drive wider innovation across Scotland’s data-driven and creative economy. –

This Triple Helix of support – Industry, Government-backed Innovation Centres, and Academic R&D – validates the Games Action Plan as the collective vision for a more connected, innovative, and collaborative Scotland.

From Vision to Enactment

The support from DHI and The Data Lab is not a call for more reviews; it is a call for collaboration and delivery. As the DHI article notes, the Action Plan provides the foundational strategy required to bridge the gap between game developers and health practitioners.

“This is exactly why we have spent years building this evidence base, says SGN CEO Brian Baglow. When we sit down with the Minister on 18 March, we aren’t just bringing an industry ask. We are bringing a cross-sectoral consensus supported by the very innovation centres the Scottish Government has built to drive our future.”

The Roadmap to March 18th

The Games Action Plan is the primary vision for the sector’s growth. With the backing of the health and data communities, the case for the Chief Games Officer, dedicated funding, a national focus on games skills and education, and the National Games Innovation Centre (NGIC) becomes ever more compelling.

We look forward to welcoming our colleagues from the DHI, The Data Lab, and the wider ecosystem to the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party group on games, on 18 March to move from strategic vision to national delivery.

If you’ve not yet read the Games Action Plan – or left a comment of support, you can do so here.

Photo by Alexander Sinn on Unsplash

#CPG #CrossPartyGroup #DHI #DigitalHealthCareInnovationCentre #games #GamesActionPlan #LevelUp #scotland #TheDataLab

Scotland’s Games Cross-Party Group – Last Meeting Before 2026 Elections

The momentum following the recent Parliamentary debate on Scotland’s games sector is translating into action.

The next meeting of the Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Scotland’s Games Ecosystem will take place on March 18th, from 18:00 – 20:00. Interest from across the industry and academia has already been exceptionally high. With the committee room in the Scottish Parliament restricted to a strict capacity of only 26 people, the available in-person places are expected to be fully allocated.

The Implementation Scrutiny

The primary focus of this session is the promised line-by-line review of the Level Up Scotland Action Plan. During the recent debate at Holyrood, the Minister for Business and Employment, Richard Lochhead MSP, gave a public assurance that he would engage with the plan’s recommendations in detail.

We have formally invited the Minister to join us on 18 March to begin this process. While we are currently finalising the specific diary arrangements with his office, the session is being prepared as the definitive technical review of our implementation roadmap – including the proposed Chief Games Officer role and the Pilot Investment Fund.

Open Agenda

In addition to the Games Action Plan, the CPG can discuss all issues relevant to the games ecosystem in Scotland. If you have a topic you’d like covered, or a question for any of the stakeholders responsible for games in Scotland, please submit it here. The agenda will be published the week before the CPG meets.

A Roadmap Built on Evidence

This session is not a call for further discussion, but a move toward institutional delivery. While other voices have recently suggested a new task-and-finish review of the sector, the Scottish Games Network remains firm: that work has already been completed.

The Action Plan is the result of years of rigorous, audited evidence. It is the direct implementation of the 2022 Scotland’s Games Ecosystem study by the business schools at the University of Glasgow and the University of Stirling, combined with our own 18-month consultation involving 22 technical workshops with over 300 stakeholders.

The review phase is now complete. This was an extensive, expert-led undertaking that engaged hundreds of stakeholders from every corner of the ecosystem to ensure the final blueprint is unassailable. We have the data, we have the community consensus, and we have the roadmap ready for the Minister to examine.

Securing Your Attendance

The in-person capacity for this session is extremely tight. If you are a studio founder, a researcher, or a key stakeholder in Scotland’s games economy who wishes to be present for this review, we encourage you to register immediately.

The “secret weapon” is out of the shadows. On 18 March, we show the Government that the industry is ready to transition from strategic vision to national delivery.

Register to attend Scotland’s Games Cross-Party Group here (in-person and online tickets available).

If you’ve not yet read Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan, or left a comment supporting it, you can do so here.

Image courtesy of: Cassandra Harrison Art.

#CPG #games #GamesActionPlan #glasgow #government #LevelUp #scotland

Political Consensus: Scottish Liberal Democrats Adopt Games Action Plan Pillars

The political momentum behind the future of the Scottish games ecosystem has reached an all-time high.

Following the publication of the Games Action Plan, the subsequent debate in the Scottish Parliament and the launch of the IES manifesto, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have now formally adopted Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan into their official party policy. At their spring conference, the party passed a motion calling for a major boost to the sector, but the significance of this motion goes far beyond general support.

In a move that clarifies the strategic future of the industry, the motion explicitly calls on the Scottish Government to:

Work with the Scottish Games Network in enacting the Scottish Games Action Plan, which has been co-created with all key stakeholders within the industry.

Addressing the Strategic Vacuum

The Liberal Democrat motion is grounded in the extensive diagnostic data provided by the 2022 Scotland’s Games Ecosystem paper from the business schools at the University of Glasgow and the University of Stirling. It notes that the games sector has suffered from a fundamental misalignment with existing tech, screen, and creative industry structures.

This misalignment has left games absent from national economic, digital, skills, and cultural strategies – a gap that the motion identifies as a primary limiter of collaboration, scalability, and long-term resilience for Scottish studios.

The Professional Mandate

The motion was proposed by Neil Alexander, a game designer with over eight years of experience in the industry. His involvement highlights a critical shift in Scottish politics: the people who actually build our games are now taking seats at the policy table to demand the strategic coherence the sector has lacked.

Mr Alexander told the Scottish Games Network:

Despite making a massive contribution to Scotland’s economy and culture, the video games sector here is much more fragile and less coordinated compared to other European nations.  

It’s deeply frustrating that the government have failed to crack down on well-documented exploitative practices, particularly the “crunch culture” that exists within the industry.

To reach its full potential in Scotland, the gaming sector needs to be supported to grow nationwide, creating opportunities for new start-ups and long-term economic development.

This motion represents an important first step in addressing current challenges. Scotland cannot be complacent and rely on past successes; we’ve got to keep putting in the work to ensure this industry thrives for years to come.

From setting up low-cost office spaces to implementing fairer working conditions and cultivating the right skills in every corner of the country, I want to see the gaming industry finally getting the major boost it needs to turbocharge Scotland’s economy.

We agree – and with this endorsement, we have the unified mandate to fix it.

No More Room for Delay

What is most significant about this endorsement is that it reinforces the support across the country. Whether it is the Liberal Democrats, the CPG co-chairs from the SNP and Scottish Labour, or the cross-party MSPs who spoke so passionately and supported our motion last month, every corner of Holyrood is now aligned on the same five recommendations.

By explicitly naming the Scottish Games Network as the partner for enactment, the Liberal Democrats have validated not only the 2022 Games Ecosystem Paper from Glasgow and Stirling Universities, but the two years of expert-led consultation and the 22 technical workshops that forged this blueprint, with input from over 300 organisations and individuals across the whole of the UK.

It renders the idea of yet more ‘task-and-finish’ reviews redundant.

The task is finished. The delivery partner has been named. The policy is now a matter of cross-party consensus.

The Delivery Window

While the Liberal Democrats are setting out their vision for the next parliament, the Scottish Games Network remains focused on the here and now. We are currently finalising a date for the final meeting of the games cross-party group before the Scottish Elections. We have already invited Richard Lochhead MSP, the Minister for Business & Employment for the line-by-line review of our implementation roadmap, agreed at the recent debate.

With the industry, the academic community, and now multiple political parties all calling for the same strategic leadership and investment, the time for hesitation is over.

Scotland is ready for a Games Supercluster. The blueprints are on the table. It is time to hit start.

You can read the whole motion on the Scottish Liberal Democrats website.

If you’ve not yet read Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan – or left a comment of support, you can find it here.

Photographs © Liberal Democrats

#games #GamesActionPlan #government #LevelUp #parliament #PartyConference #scotland #ScottishLiberalDemocrats

Industry Alignment: IES’s First Scottish Manifesto Validates Action Plan Priorities

IES Manifesto Launch: The conversation around the future of the Scottish games sector has reached a new level of agreement and consensus.

Following the historic debate in the Scottish Parliament and the Business & Employment Minister’s commitment to a “line-by-line” review of our Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan, we are pleased to see Interactive Entertainment Scotland (IES) Ukie’s Scotland organisation publish their manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Strategic Alignment

It is encouraging to see that the core pillars of our community-led Games Action Plan – which was forged through 18 months of intensive consultation – are now being echoed by the UK’s games trade body. The IES Manifesto’s focus on targeted pilot funding, strengthening institutional knowledge within government, and a national data strategy directly aligns with the Games Action Plan and provides a unified mandate for Scotland’s future.

From Campaigning to Delivery

While the IES Manifesto looks toward the next Scottish Government in 2026, Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan is designed for the here and now.

“We welcome this validation from our colleagues at Ukie,” says Brian Baglow, Director of the Scottish Games Network. “It proves that our community-driven approach has correctly identified the pressure points in our ecosystem. While IES is rightly setting out the long-term vision for the next parliament, we are currently working with the current Parliament to deliver the Chief Games Officer and the Pilot Fund today. As well as education stakeholders to build a national games skills forum.”

The “Golden Thread” Advantage

One area where Scotland continues to lead is in our “More Than Games” vision. While the national manifesto focuses on the games industry in isolation, the Games Action Plan – backed by endorsements from Scotland’s existing innovation centres, including The Data Lab and the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre – treats games technology as the “Golden Thread” running through the entire digital economy.

Cross-Party Group & Ministerial Review

We’re now working with CPG co-chairs, Clare Adamson MSP and Michael Marra MSP, to identify and confirm a date for a meeting of the games CPG. Once confirmed, we will, of course, be inviting Richard Lochhead MSP for the promised Ministerial review. At the meeting, we will be presenting a plan that is not just supported by the Scottish games community, ecosystem, and the media, but also underpins the manifesto of the UK’s games industry trade body.

The call to action is clear. The games ecosystem is speaking with one voice. It is time to deliver the UK’s first Games Supercluster.

You can download and read the IES Games Manifesto here.

If you’ve not yet read, or left a message of support or endorsement for Scotland’s Games Action Plan, you can find both documents and leave a comment here.

#games #GamesActionPlan #IES #LevelUp #Manifesto #scotland

WATCH: Momentum Builds at Holyrood for Scotland’s Games Future

Level Up: If you missed the live stream of the Scottish Parliament yesterday, you missed a significant turning point in the ongoing evolution of our industry – with a ministerial commitment to review the action plan “line-by-line” at a future meeting of the cross-party group for Scotland’s games ecosystem.

Building on the foundations laid by Clare Adamson’s 2023 motion, last night’s debate represented a massive step forward in strategic coherence. We saw MSPs from across the chamber champion the Level Up Scotland Action Plan, citing our £151,382 GVA per head and calling for a dedicated Games Supercluster.

A Chamber in Consensus

The debate was led by a powerful opening from Michael Marra MSP, who laid out the undeniable economic and cultural case for the plan. We also heard vital contributions from Clare Adamson MSP, Daniel Johnston MSP, Liam Kerr MSP, Foysol Choudhury MSP and a response from Business Minister Richard Lochhead MSP.

From the “Golden Thread” of games technology to the need for a Chief Games Officer, the Parliament spoke with a level of detail and passion that proves the games sector is now a national priority.

Watch the Highlights

The full video of the debate is now available. We encourage everyone – from studio founders to students – to watch. Hear the consensus for yourself:

WATCH: Members’ Business Debate on the Scottish Games Action Plan

Your Voice is Needed.

While the Parliament has spoken with a unified voice, and the mainstream press has put us on the front pages, we need to continue showing the sector is united behind this plan.

We cannot allow this momentum to be met with silence.

The Minister, Richard Lochhead, has committed to a “line-by-line” review of the Action Plan at the next Cross-Party Group meeting. This is our window of opportunity. We need to show the Scottish Government that it isn’t just a few of us asking for change – it is the entire community.

Level Up: Join the Wall of Support

If you believe in the vision of a £1 Billion games ecosystem, we need you to go on the record today. It takes 30 seconds, but its impact in the halls of power is massive.

Visit the Scottish Games Network website and deave a comment underneath the Games Action Plan documents here.

• Studio Heads: Tell the government why you need better scale-up support.
• Developers: Tell them why you want to build your career in a Scottish Supercluster.
• Students: Tell them why you need a support to help you develop and publish new IP.
• Everyone else: Help the government understand games are far more than the huge consumer market. Games can and will impact your sector, from education to healthcare, from film to fintech.

The Scottish Parliament has opened the door. Now, we as a community must ensure the Government walks through it.

Let’s make our presence undeniable. Let’s make our sector famous.

~Brian

#actionPlan #debate #games #GamesActionPlan #holyrood #LevelUp #parliament #scotland

From Paper to Parliament: National Games Debate Confirmed for Tuesday, Feb 3rd

I am incredibly proud to announce that following our launch events in Edinburgh and Dundee – and a week of unprecedented national media coverage – the Scottish Parliament has officially scheduled a debate on the Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 3rd, MSPs from across the political spectrum will take to the floor of the Holyrood chamber to discuss the future of the Scottish games ecosystem (exact time TBC).

The Result of a Unified Voice

Last week, over 80 of you joined us at CodeBase Edinburgh and the Abertay CyberQuarter. You showed the politicians and the press that this isn’t just a document – it’s a movement. That energy translated directly into parliamentary action. Michael Marra MSP’s motion (S6M-20521) secured the necessary cross-party support in under a week, and now we have our moment.

The world is watching how Scotland responds to its “secret weapon.” Over the last few days, we’ve seen the Action Plan featured on the front page of the Sunday Herald, on STV News, and in deep-dives by GamesIndustry.biz, The Courier, Scotland on Sunday, The National, and Holyrood Magazine. The games, tech and business sectors also picked it up, with news stories running across DIGIT, FutureScot, PocketGamer.biz and the Videogames Industry Memo.

(Oh and as of writing, this Sunday morning I’ll be on BBC1 Scotland’s The Sunday Show…)

Why Tuesday Matters

This national games debate is the moment where the “Golden Thread” of games technology – from AI and real-time 3D togames engines, simulation and sandboxing – is formally recognised as a national economic priority. This is not just a debate about videogames – we are debating how to build the UK’s first Games Supercluster and how to scale our sector to £1 Billion GVA by 2030.

I will be present in the public gallery of the chamber to represent the Scottish Games Network and the hundreds of you who contributed to this blueprint. It will be a moment of reflection on the two years of work that got us here, but more importantly, it is the start of what I hope will be the implementation phase.

How to Watch and Support

We need the Wall of Support to be visible during this debate. Even if you can’t be in Edinburgh in person, you can join us online.

Watch Live: The debate will be streamed on Scottish Parliament TV on Tuesday afternoon. (We will post the exact timing on our social channels as soon as the day’s agenda is finalised).

Keep the Pressure On: If your local MSP hasn’t signed the motion yet, there is still time. Send them a quick note today asking them to attend the debate and support the National Games Debate (details here). The MSPs who have currently supported the plan are: Clare Adamson, Colin Beattie, Miles Briggs, Foysol Choudhury, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Patrick Harvie, Craig Hoy, Liam McArthur, Paul McLennan, Pauline McNeill, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba, Annie Wells, Tess White.

Pledge your Support: Join others across the community and leave a comment on the Games Action Plan page (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Share the Coverage: Let’s show the world the interest and news coverage from across the national press, games media and beyond. Grab your favourite story from the links above and get them out on your social media channel(s) of choice, with the hashtag below…

Share the Momentum: Use the hashtag #LevelUpScotland on Tuesday to share your thoughts, clips from the debate, and why a Games Supercluster matters to you.

This plan was forged by you – the games community. On Tuesday, we see it reach the highest level of government.

Let’s make it count.

#edinburgh #games #GamesActionPlan #holyrood #LevelUpScotland #parliament

Scotland’s Games Action Plan Heads to Holyrood: Michael Marra MSP Lodges Motion for Parliamentary Debate

The momentum behind Level Up Scotland has reached the floor of the Scottish Parliament.

Following our dual-city launch earlier this week, Michael Marra MSP has officially lodged a motion (S6M-20521) calling for a dedicated Members’ Business debate on the National Action Plan for Scotland’s Games Sector.

The motion recognises the sector’s “growing importance to Scotland’s economy” and specifically highlights our goal of scaling the industry to £1 Billion GVA by 2030. It also puts our “secret weapon” metric—the £151,382 GVA per head—into the formal parliamentary record.

The Next Step: Securing the Debate

Lodging a motion is the first step. To ensure this debate actually happens in the chamber, we need MSPs from across the political spectrum to support it.

This is where the community comes in.

We need to show the Parliament that there is widespread, cross-party interest in the future of the games supercluster. Whether your local MSP is SNP, Labour, Conservative, Green, or Lib Dem, they need to hear from you.

How You Can Help Today

Find Your MSP: Visit TheyWorkForYou or the Scottish Parliament website. You can find a complete list of MSPs by constituency here (PDF).

Ask Them to Sign: Send them a short, personal email asking them to support Motion S6M-20521. Tell them why the Action Plan matters to your studio, your job, or your studies. You can find a template email here (Google Doc).

Share the Motion: Use the hashtag #LevelUpScotland and tag your MSP (and their ministerial colleagues) on social media. You can find a Starter Pack of over 70 MSPs on Bluesky here.

Why This Debate Matters

A Members’ Business debate forces a formal response from the Scottish Government. It provides a platform for MSPs to champion the studios in their constituencies and ensures the five core recommendations of the Action Plan remain at the top of the government’s priority list.

On Wednesday we launched the vision. Today, we start the democratic process of making it a reality.

Photo by Maja R. on Unsplash

#games #GamesActionPlan #government #holyrood #parliament #scotland

Two Years, Two Cities, One Goal: Why Today Changes Everything for Games in Scotland

Level Up: Scotland’s Games Action Plan: Today, at 09:30 in a room at CodeBase Edinburgh filled with MSPs, and again at 13:00 in the Abertay CyberQuarter in Dundee, we are doing something that has never been done before in the history of our sector.

We are handing over a unified vision for the future of games in Scotland.

When I started this journey in November 2023, I knew the Scottish games ecosystem was the country’s secret weapon – high-performing, globally respected, and incredibly productive. What I didn’t realise was just how much ‘cat-herding,’ ‘sweating the details,’ and ‘unnecessary drama’ it would take to filter over one thousand disparate data points and 58 initial recommendations into a single vision.

Today, Level Up Scotland: A National Action Plan for the Scottish Games Sector is live. You’ll find it in the menu above.

Building An Open & Inclusive Action Plan

I’ll be honest: there were points over the last two years where the sheer fragmentation of our sector felt insurmountable. We’ve always been brilliant at making games, but we haven’t always been brilliant at articulating our value – or speaking as one.

This Action Plan is our attempt to fix that. It is the result of hundreds of conversations with you, the entire ecosystem – the developers, the educators, the founders, the students, and the public sector. If this plan carries weight today in the halls of Holyrood, it isn’t because of the design or the data; it’s because it carries the weight of your collective ambition.

From the initial data points gathered at 22+ workshops held across Scotland and online, to the initial draft, I have sought and shared your input, insight, and feedback. From an initial set of 58 recommendations, we’ve narrowed it down to only five, covering the key high level issues we all know exist: Recognition and understanding in government, funding for new IP (and co-development), a framework for education and skills, expert business support to grow and scale, with the long-term goal of establishing our own national games innovation centre. All of which is designed to take us from where we are at the start of 2026, into the UK’s first games ‘supercluster’ (bringing together industry, academia, ecosystem, and government), contributing £1 billion to the economy by 2030.

I know it’s ambitious, but I also believe it’s entirely achievable. Read it, I think you will too.

Beyond the High Score

We’ve launched this in two cities today for a reason. Edinburgh represents the political will we need to institutionalise this sector – to move it from a ‘creative hobby’ in the eyes of some, to the high-yield technological and creative powerhouse we know it to be. Dundee represents our heart – the place where the pioneer spirit of this industry was born and continues to thrive.

If we want Scotland to become the UK leader and a supercluster, we need to stop seeing our cities as rivals or opponents. We need the whole of Scotland to be a place where games technology isn’t just a sub-sector, but the “Golden Thread” woven through the heart of the entire country’s creative and digital economies.

The Time for Talking is NOT Over

The documents are now live on this site. There are two of them: the Action Plan (the vision) and the Implementation Annexe (the technical blueprint). I encourage you to download them, read them, and – most importantly – discuss them, share them, and support them.

But more than that, I need you to Sign the Plan.

We have the attention of the Ministers. We have the mainstream press talking about our existing £151,000 GVA per head. Now, we need a Wall of Support to show that the community is ready to build this.

Underneath the Scottish Games Action Plan and the Implementation Annexe Document, there’s a comment form to let you leave messages and feedback. These will be collected and used across the SGN and socials to demonstrate support for the Action Plan and keep the recommendations in front of Ministers and MSPs on ann ongoing basis.

Please consider leaving a message of support and help to demonstrate to Government that there is a large, engaged community all pushing for this plan to be accepted in full.

To everyone who helped me herd the cats, check the data, and keep the faith over the last two years: thank you.

The moment for action is now. Let’s Level Up.

~Brian

#actionPlan #dundee #edinburgh #games #GamesActionPlan #government #scotland #strategy